Climate change threatens us all. Countries need to pull together to de-carbonise the world economy, President Mohamed Nasheed said. We know cutting greenhouse gas emissions is possible and the Maldives is willing to play its part.
We aim to become carbon-neutral in a decade, Nasheed said.
The state-owned electricity company will be privatized, and investors and donors invited to take part in the plan.
The programme envisions installing battery backup in case wind and solar sources are inadequate, and a power plant to be run off coconut husks in the capital, Male.
The new plan could pay for itself in 10 years because of the savings on oil imports, said Mark Lynas, an environmentalist, who worked with the Maldivian government on the plan.
It’s going to cost a lot of money but it will also save a lot of money from not having to import oil, Lynas said.
The Maldives imports diesel and fuel oil to power its 200 inhabited islands.
The point of doing it is that it is something the Maldives can lead the world in, Lynas said. No rich country has the excuse that it is too expensive and we can’t do anything.
In 2007, a U.N. climate change panel predicted an increase in sea levels of 58 centimeters, which would submerge many of the country’s 1,192 islands by 2100.
