The Maldives calls for rapid and immediate action to fight climate change

October 20, 2021: -The world’s largest carbon emitters are not listening to what’s happening to countries facing extreme weather changes, said the minister of environment of the Maldives, an island nation at risk of disappearing by the end of the century.

On Monday, during CNBC’s Sustainable Future Forum, the Group of 20 nations contribute to 75% of the world’s emissions, said Aminath Shauna, the minister of environment, climate change, and technology of Maldives.

“They have not cut down, and, as we came off the pandemic, in 2021, we have seen a 5% increase in emissions from the developed world,” she said. “No one is listening to what we are experiencing in terms of extreme weather events.”

“I don’t believe the emitters in the developed world are listening to the science when listening to what’s happening to small island countries such as the Maldives,” Shauna added.

The Maldives has the lowest terrain of any country globally, which makes the Indian Ocean archipelago extremely vulnerable to rising sea levels.

“Unless we have rapid immediate and large scale action, we will not be able to contain global temperatures beyond 1.5 [degrees Celsius],” she said at the forum.

Earlier this year, Shauna told CNBC that the popular holiday destination could disappear by the end of the century if the world does not act quickly and cohesively to combat climate change.

More than 80% of the country’s 1,190 islands are currently just a meter above sea level, making them particularly vulnerable to increasing sea levels.

Already, 90% of the islands in the Maldives have reported flooding, 97% have seen shoreline erosion, and 64% have experienced a serial decline, she said at that time.