• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
The climate news that makes a difference.
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
  FEATURED
Wind and Solar Cheaper than Gas Plants in Ontario and Alberta, Study Shows February 7, 2023
AI Predicts World Over 1.5°C Limit by 2030, Undercuts Climate Progress Reports February 7, 2023
February Brings Record Cold, Widespread Power Outages to Much of North America February 7, 2023
Solar Geoengineering Banned in Mexico After ‘Rogue’ Stunt February 7, 2023
Lithium Mine Divides Nemaska Cree Over Impacts, Benefits February 7, 2023
Next
Prev

Maldives tourist haven faces new threat

March 18, 2017
Reading time: 3 minutes
Primary Author: Kieran Cooke

 

Climate change and a $10bn-dollar development scheme in the Maldives pose double danger for the Indian Ocean tourist paradise.

LONDON, 18 March, 2017 – The Maldives, made up of almost 1,200 coral islands in the Indian Ocean, is the flattest country on Earth, its highest point being only 2.4 metres above sea level.

  • The climate news you need. Subscribe now to our engaging new weekly digest.
  • You’ll receive exclusive, never-before-seen-content, distilled and delivered to your inbox every weekend.
  • The Weekender: Succinct, solutions-focused, and designed with the discerning reader in mind.
Subscribe

Rising sea levels caused by climate change pose a serious threat to the country’s future, with scientists warning there is a very real possibility that the majority of the islands in the archipelago will be under water by the end of the century.

And now the Maldives – visited by more than a million tourists each year – is facing another challenge. There are plans for a huge construction project, including additional tourist resorts and airports.

The US$10 billion development scheme involves selling or leasing to Saudi Arabia a string of 19 coral islands in the Faafu atoll, 120 kilometres south of Male. Saudi companies would then fund and build the development.

Maldives economy

The Maldives government says the scheme is vital in order to safeguard the country’s economic future.

But the opposition says the project could cause irreparable damage to what is one of the world’s most pristine but vulnerable ecological regions.

The Maldives has a population of just under 400,000 − including about 100,000 foreign workers – with more than 25% squeezed onto the island of Male, the capital.

Climate change is already a very real threat to the islanders. In addition to rising sea levels, increasingly violent storms are causing extensive beach erosion, and sea water is also contaminating the country’s limited groundwater supplies.

While few specifics of the proposed deal have been made public, Abdulla Yameen, the Maldives president, denies that the entire atoll will be sold to the Saudis.

He says the project will include “international sea sports, mixed development, residential high-class development, many tourist resorts, many airports” and other industries.

“The plans would allow a foreign power control
of one of the country’s 26 atolls. It amounts
to creeping colonialism”

The opposition Maldives Democratic Party (MDP), − led by the former president, Mohamed Nasheed, who is now living in exile in the UK – expressed outrage at the plans.

“No information on the proposed project has been shared with the public,” says an MDP statement. “The plans would allow a foreign power control of one of the country’s 26 atolls. It amounts to creeping colonialism.”

Nasheed – ousted from power in 2012 in what he says was a coup, and sentenced in absentia to 13 years in prison – was a strong advocate of taking action on climate change during his time in office, calling on the international community to safeguard the future of his country.

To publicise the problems being caused by climate change – and the damage being done to the Maldives’ coral reefs by warming seas – Nasheed at one point staged a cabinet meeting under water.

Abdulla Yameen, the current president, has stressed the need for economic growth and, with the Maldives economy in serious difficulties, sees the huge Saudi investment as key to future prosperity.

“We do not need cabinet meetings under water,” says the government. “We need development.”

New airport terminal

The Maldives, a predominantly Sunni Muslim country, has been forging ever closer religious and economic links with Saudi Arabia in recent years.

The Saudis are building a number of mosques in the Maldives, and have granted the Male government low interest loans. The Binladin group, Saudi Arabia’s biggest construction company, is building a new airport passenger terminal in the Maldives.

King Salman bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia – along with an entourage of 1,500 that includes 25 princes and 10 government ministers – is due in the Maldives later this month to discuss the atoll project.

A recent demonstration by islanders threatened with being relocated if the Saudi development project goes ahead was broken up by police. – Climate News Network



in Climate News Network

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

U.S. Geological Survey/wikimedia commons
Biodiversity & Habitat

Climate Change Amplifies Risk of ‘Insect Apocalypse’

December 1, 2022
43
Alaa Abd El-Fatah/wikimedia commons
COP Conferences

Rights Abuses, Intrusive Conference App Put Egypt Under Spotlight as COP 27 Host

November 14, 2022
26
Western Arctic National Parklands/wikimedia commons
Arctic & Antarctica

Arctic Wildfires Show Approach of New Climate Feedback Loop

January 2, 2023
28

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Peoplepoweredbyenergy/Wikimedia Commons

Wind and Solar Cheaper than Gas Plants in Ontario and Alberta, Study Shows

February 7, 2023
533
Government of Alberta/flickr

University of Calgary Suspends Admissions for Oil and Gas Engineering Program

July 12, 2021
394
Beckyq6937/Wikimedia Commons

Solar Geoengineering Banned in Mexico After ‘Rogue’ Stunt

February 7, 2023
160
Peter Broster/wikimedia commons

Ottawa Mulls Higher-Speed Trains on Busy Toronto-Quebec City Corridor

February 7, 2023
117
Brian Robert Marshall/Geograph

Canada’s Solid Renewables Growth Falls Short of Net-Zero Ambitions

February 7, 2023
98
The hottest summer days in a typical New York City year are now about 11 times more frequent than in the 19th century. Image: Andreas Komodromos via Flickr

AI Predicts World Over 1.5°C Limit by 2030, Undercuts Climate Progress Reports

February 7, 2023
101

Recent Posts

Andre Carrotflower/wikimedia commons

February Brings Record Cold, Widespread Power Outages to Much of North America

February 7, 2023
56
Nemaska Lithium/Facebook

Lithium Mine Divides Nemaska Cree Over Impacts, Benefits

February 7, 2023
44
Mike Mozart/Flickr

BP Predicts Faster Oil and Gas Decline as Clean Energy Spending Hits $1.1T in 2022

February 4, 2023
372
Gina Dittmer/PublicDomainPictures

Canada Needs Oil and Gas Emissions Cap to Hit 2030 Goal: NZAB

January 31, 2023
219
CONFENIAE

Ecuador’s Amazon Drilling Plan Shows Need for Fossil Non-Proliferation Treaty

January 31, 2023
85
Ken Teegardin www.SeniorLiving.Org/flickr

Virtual Power Plants Hit an ‘Inflection Point’

January 31, 2023
147
Next Post

How Fossil Dollars Co-Opt Academia

The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Copyright 2023 © Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Proudly partnering with…

scf_withtagline
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}