President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has stated all nations must chart a collective path towards a sustainable, safe, and equitable future for all. He made the statement while speaking at a high-level meeting convened by the President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Abdulla Shahid called Delivering Climate Action for People, Planet and Prosperity.
In his statement, President Solih highlighted the harmful repercussions of climate change, from unpredictable monsoon patterns to roaring wildfires and devastating floods, and said the danger has escalated into a global climate emergency affecting all nations. The president emphasised that the devastation comes from only 1.1 degrees of warming and that the fate of small islands states now would be the fate of the world tomorrow. He called on all nations to radically change their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to prevent exceeding the 1.5 degrees of warming outlined as the best scenario for a habitable planet.
Speaking further, President Solih expressed his optimism that this event, the COP26 in Glasgow, and the upcoming G20 meeting would steer the world onto a collective course of ambitious climate action. The president said the Maldives has taken ambitious measures to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030 but is dependent upon receiving substantial support and technological assistance from larger nations.
He concluded his statement by emphasising that all nations must fulfill the demands of youth and future generations to ensure a healthy, sustainable, and prosperous future for all.
Delivering Climate Action for People, Planet and Prosperity is a high-level meeting focused on the gap between current and required technical and financial capacities to achieve the 1.5 degrees target and how that gap can be met.
The hybrid meeting aimed to achieve this through showcasing best practices that simultaneously address climate action and the myriad structural challenges exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.