Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid has revealed diplomats need to define the interests of diplomacy more broadly to include the interest of humanity, although traditional diplomacy was designed to promote national interests, defined in narrow, national terms.
Addressing the workshop on Climate Diplomacy and Geopolitics held in Dhigufaru Resort in Baa Atoll, Foreign Minister Shahid said traditional diplomacy analyses negotiations in terms of what one country will get in return to what it will give in.
The foreign minister added experts in climate negotiations realised the phenomena they wish to deal with does not recognise borders, territories, sovereignties, or even national identities. In this regard, the minister expressed climate change requires the diplomats, to think, not just outside the box; in fact, think without a box to realise the human instincts of survival is also shared by the entire humanity. He highlighted the efforts exerted by Maldives in the international arena in the fight against climate change. He assured Maldives will be the partner in fostering global consensus on actions to stop and reverse the runaway climate change adding the national interests of the Maldives on the issue are the interests of the entire humanity.
Top academics from three of Europe's leading universities visited Maldives to discuss new approaches to climate diplomacy, in an attempt to enhance the Maldives' role as a global advocate on climate change. In this regard, academics from Liege University in Belgium, the University of Economics in Bratislava and Sciences Po in France, joined the workshop held at Dhigufaru resort in Baa Atoll in cooperation with the EDGE project of the European Commission.