Maldivian policies on climate change

Historical and Political Context

The Maldives is an archipelago grouped into several atolls located in the Indian Ocean, south-southwest of India. It is an Islamic republic and became independent from England on July 26, 1965. The majority of its people are Sunni Muslims who were originally Buddhists. The official language is Dhivehi, an Indo-European language related to Sinhala, the major language of Sri Lanka.

The Maldives became a republic under the 1968 constitution, which established executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. The Majlis (legislature) is composed of ninety-three members who serve five-year terms. The judicial system is derived mainly from traditional Islamic law and administered by secular officials, a chief justice, and four judges. Ibrahim Nasir became the president in 1968 and was succeeded in 1978 by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

The Maldives has faced no external threat since its independence, but has witnessed two internal threats. President Gayoom disclosed in 1980 details of an abortive coup involving Ibrahim Nasir, the first president. The other threat occurred in 1988, when Abdullah Luthufi, a Maldivian businessman, led a group of Tamil militants who invaded the nation in an effort to overthrow the government. Gayoom requested assistance from the Indian government, which sent troops to quell the invasion. By 1990, the government had embarked on a democratization program, and the country’s security improved.

In 2005, members of the Majlis voted unanimously to legally recognize political parties, and a year later, the government introduced a roadmap for reform. A first-ever presidential election under a multiparty system was held in October 2008. The Maldivian Democratic Party, led by Mohamed Nasheed and his running mate, Mohammed Waheed Hassan, defeated incumbent president Abdul Gayoom. On November 11, 2008, Mohamed Nasheed was sworn in as president, and Dr. Waheed Hassan as vice president of the Maldives. This type of election continued in subsequent years, with the election of Abdulla Yameen in 2013, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in 2018, and Mohamed Muizzu in 2023.

Impact of Maldivian Policies on Climate Change

Climate change and rising sea levels are a great concern to the Maldives, which is less than 2.5 meters (8 feet) above sea level at its highest point. The country’s entire existence is in jeopardy, as global warming causes the polar ice caps to melt and sea levels to rise. Scientists predict that the Maldives could sink beneath the ocean surface by 2100 if global warming continues. As a result, the government of the Maldives is doing all it can to fight global warming.

The nation was among the first to raise climate change as a serious issue at the United Nations. President Gayoom raised the alarm in 1987, when most nations had not recognized the problem. In 1989, the Maldives played a major role in calling and hosting the first small states conference on sea levels. The conference issued the Male’ Declaration on global warming and sea-level rise and urged intergovernmental action on the issue. The Maldives was also one of the first countries to sign the Kyoto Protocol, written in Japan in 1997. The protocol aimed at tackling the issue of global warming and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Apart from the county’s involvement in several international conferences on climate change, it has also implemented several projects aimed at resisting the rising sea by raising the elevation of some islands. For example, it has completed the construction of a flood-resistant island named Hulhumale, made possible by a $60 million grant from Japan.

Although Nasheed, beginning in 2009, had spearheaded a campaign to make the Maldives the first carbon-neutral country, this commitment was increasingly altered following his ouster from office in 2012. In 2016, after pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent by 2030, the country signed and ratified the international Paris Agreement dedicated to combating climate change. In 2021, the country's Climate Emergency Act established the framework necessary to achieve the goal of net-zero emissions by 2030, and in the mid-2020s, the country announced an emissions reduction target of 26 percent by 2030.

In the Maldives' Third Nationally Determined Contribution report, submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2025, the government outlined the country's continued commitments to ambitious sustainability goals.

Maldives as a GHG Emitter

According to a United Nations development report, the Maldives accounted for 0.0 percent of global emissions, with an emission rate of 2.5 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) per person in 2004; according to the World Bank, the CO₂ emission rate was 3.3 metric tons per capita in 2014. According to Our World in Data, this number had risen to nearly 4 metric tons per capita by 2023. However, this amount was still small when compared to other countries, such as the United States, which had a CO₂ emissions rate of 13.8 metric tons per capita in 2023. The Maldives’ economy is primarily based on tourism and fishing, and therefore, it has few industries that pollute. Developed countries like the US are the largest emitters of GHGs.

Summary and Foresight

Tourism is the largest industry in the Maldives, known for its beautiful resorts and beaches. Government revenues from import duties and tourism-related taxes may be threatened by rising sea levels. For example, the 2004 Asian tsunami battered the Maldives, forcing the evacuation of thirteen of its two hundred inhabited islands and causing millions of dollars in damage to its resorts and beaches.

Corals are the major ecological component of coral reefs, and elevated sea temperature causes corals to bleach. In 1998, temperature-induced bleaching killed over 95 percent of shallow-water corals in the Maldives. The elimination of coral reefs is beginning to affect the Maldives, since reefs protect coastlines from storm damage, erosion, and flooding by reducing wave action.

The beaches and shorelines of the Maldives are vanishing. They are being washed into the sea, a consequence of global warming. These tiny islands cannot combat this threat alone. They require support from the global community, particularly from developed nations that are the major contributors to global warming. The Maldives government is focused on reclaiming and developing islands as a means of protection against rising sea levels, particularly by attracting more tourists to secure greater financial resources.

Key Facts

• Population: 525,994 (2023 estimate)
• Area: 298 square kilometers (115 square miles)
• Gross domestic product (GDP): $12.325 billion (purchasing power parity, 2024 estimate)
• Carbon dioxide emissions in metric tons per capita: 5.47 in 2023
• Kyoto Protocol status: Ratified December 1998
• Paris Agreement status: Ratified April 2016

Bibliography

Gayoom, Maumoon Abdul. The Maldives—a Nation in Peril: Speeches by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, President of the Maldives, on the Challenge of Environmental Instability to the Maldives and the Global Community. Ministry of Planning Human Resources and Environment, 1998.

Goreau, Thomas, et al. “Maldives Shorelines: Growing a Beach.” Global Coral Reef Alliance, 2004, www.globalcoral.org/maldives-shorelines-growing-a-beach. Accessed 24 Sept. 2025.

Heger, Martin, et al. "Rising to the Climate Challenge: How the Maldives Can Thrive in a Warming World ." World Bank Blogs, 20 May 2025, blogs.worldbank.org/en/endpovertyinsouthasia/thriving-in-a-warming-world--how-maldives-can-adapt-to-climate-c. Accessed 24 Sept. 2025.

Maldives: Post-Tsunami Environmental Assessment. United Nations Environment Programme, 29 Sept. 2005, www.unep.org/resources/report/maldives-post-tsunami-environmental-assessment. Accessed 24 Sept. 2025.

"Maldives." The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 17 Sept. 2025, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/maldives. Accessed 24 Sept. 2025.

Naseer, Abdulla. Coral Reefs and Impacts of Climate Change in the Maldives. Workshop on Climate Science and Policy, 2008.

Ritchie, Hannah, and Max Roser. "Maldives: CO₂ Country Profile." Our World in Data, ourworldindata.org/co2/country/maldives. Accessed 24 Sept. 2025.

"Securing the Future: The Maldives’ Push for Climate Investments ." NDC Partnership, 17 Apr. 2025, ndcpartnership.org/news/securing-future-maldives-push-climate-investments. Accessed 24 Sept. 2025.

Vidal, John. "'We Need Development': Maldives Switches Focus from Climate Threat to Mass Tourism." The Guardian, 3 Mar. 2017, www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/mar/03/maldives-plan-to-embrace-mass-tourism-sparks-criticism-and-outrage. Accessed 24 Sept. 2025.