A brief summary of the Maldives as a global warming case study. Exploring its pledge to become the “first carbon neutral country in the world” and the reasons behind this.
In 2009 the Maldives, an archipelago of 1,192 islands off the
Indian sub-continent, pledged to become the “first carbon
neutral country in the world” in the next decade. The president
Mohamed Nasheed’s plan involves becoming completely carbon
neutral through switching all their energy sources to renewable,
which would power homes, cars, boats and businesses. In the
hopes of inspiring other countries to use the Maldives as a
blueprint for how to achieve carbon neutrality, the government
has consulted experts from all around the world in order to
ensure their plans allowed them to become as efficient as
possible.
Prompting this urgency for immediate action to combat climate
change is the vulnerable position of the Maldives, in particular
its low lying nature. None of its 1,192 islands are more than 1.8
metres above sea level, meaning that eustatic sea level rise is a
great threat to its 400,000 inhabitants. The prediction of a sea
level rise of 90cm over this century is likely to cause the
abandonment of the Maldives from 2060-2100, creating huge
numbers of climate change refugees. Currently negotiations
between the governments of India and Sri Lanka are taking
place for the purpose of buying land in which these refugees will
be able to settle.
The Maldives plan involves ending its reliance on imported fuel
and switching to renewable, the major source being solar power
with wind energy and bio-fuels contributing to a lesser extent.
This involves the sourcing ‘green’ energy from 155 large wind
turbines and a coconut-husk-burning biomass plant With
switching 60% of energy sources to renewable costing $1.1
billion, the Maldivians are also committed to switching vehicles
to more energy efficient hybrids and constructing
environmentally friendly buildings.
A key focus of President Nasheed’s carbon neutral plan is to
influence other countries by acting as a blueprint of how to
achieve carbon neutrality. He hopes that the example that the
Maldives are setting will encourage the major carbon emitters
such as the US and China—which emits over 7 billion tonnes per
year compared to the Maldives’ 1.7 million— in order to make a
significant impact on the rate and extent of global warming.
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