SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES: ENVIRONMENT & ECONOMY IN THE MALDIVES
A “garland of islands” deep in the Indian Ocean, the Maldives archipelago is the smallest country in Asia by land mass. Ringed with golden sands, turquoise waters and fertile coral reefs, it is a tourism powerhouse. Yet dig a little deeper – just 1.5 meters in fact – and the Maldives becomes a poster child for climate, food and water insecurity By Howard Hudson, OPEC Fund “OUR VERY EXISTENCE IS IN DANGER”
T he M aldives is an outlier – its most northerly island sits 750 km off the southern tip of India. It is also the lowest lying country in the world and the most dispersed: Its 1200 atolls and islands span 90,000 km 2 – a little larger than Austria – but form a total land mass of under 300 km 2 . Like stepping stones scattered in the vast Indian Ocean. Due to its remoteness and lack of natural resources, the Maldives relies heavily on commodity imports of staple foods like rice, wheat and sugar as well as medicines and refined fuel products – goods critical to the economy in the wake of the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic. Because remoteness adds cost and complexity to any supply chain, especially in times of crisis, in 2022 the OPEC Fund agreed to contribute US$50 million to a trade finance facility to send food, fuel and other key commodities to the Maldives and its population of just over half a million people.
The OPEC Fund is also the single biggest investor in the Maldives’ water sector, having committed more than US$125 million to date. Speaking at an OPEC Fund panel session at the UN Climate Change Conference COP27 in Egypt, former Maldives Minister of State for Environment, Climate Change and Technology Khadeeja Naseem made an impassioned plea for the international community to meet the Paris 1.5°C climate commitment. She said that shoring up key infrastructure like sea walls and desalination plants are essential for the survival of her island nation – much of which lies barely a meter above sea level. The OPEC Fund Quarterly caught up with Ms. Naseem to hear her views on prospects for the future and to get her verdict on the UN Climate Change Conference COP28 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the nascent Loss and Damage Fund, which she personally helped shape.
Khadeeja Naseem
Climate change policy expert from the Maldives and presently a Senior Advisor on Loss and Damage and Climate Negotiations to the International Peace Institute. Previously she was Minister of State for Environment, Climate Change and Technology in the Maldives and oversaw the policies and work related to climate change and energy. She also has extensive experience in climate finance and disaster risk management.
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