Low-lying Maldives vows to stay put, fight rising tides with island building

President Mohamed Muizzu has scrapped plans to relocate citizens from the Indian Ocean nation, despite much of it being less than a metre above sea level

Instead, he promises to beat back the waves through land reclamation and building islands higher – even though they’ve run out of fresh drinking water

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Reclaimed Gulhi Fahlu Island in the Maldives, with the densely populated capital island of Malé seen in the background. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:02pm, 21 Nov 2023

Rising sea levels threaten to swamp the Maldives and the Indian Ocean archipelago is already out of drinking water, but the new president says he has scrapped plans to relocate citizens.

Instead, President Mohamed Muizzu promises the low-lying nation will beat back the waves through ambitious land reclamation and building islands higher – policies, however, that environmental and rights groups warn could even exacerbate flooding risks.

The upmarket holiday destination is famed for its white sand beaches, turquoise lagoons and vast coral reefs, but the chain of 1,192 tiny islands is on the front lines of the climate crisis and battling for survival.

People take a ferry to an artificial island off the coast of Malé. Tourism accounts for almost one-third of the Maldives’ economy. Photo: AFP

Former president Mohamed Nasheed began his administration 15 years ago warning citizens they might become the world’s first environmental refugees needing relocation to another country.

He wanted the Maldives to start saving to buy land in neighbouring India, Sri Lanka or even far away in Australia.

But Muizzu, 45, while asking for US$500 million in foreign funding to protect vulnerable coasts, said his citizens will not be leaving their homeland.

“If we need to increase the area for living or other economic activity, we can do that,” Muizzu said, speaking from the crowded capital Malé, which is ringed with concrete sea walls. “We are self-sufficient to look after ourselves”.