Maldives Rising Sea Levels: President Muizzu Scraps Relocation Plan, Resorts to Building Fortress Islands

Rising sea level is one of the repercussions of climate change and global warming, as the world's glaciers and other icy structures continue to melt at an unprecedented rate. In this natural catastrophe, islands and even coastal communities are currently at risk of rising ocean waters and will continue to do so in the coming decades if the current rate of anthropogenic or human-caused greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel burning persists.

Maldives is one of the places on Earth that has been dealing with rising levels in recent years, with several proposed measures already, including the relocation of affected residents. Now, the island country's new leader, President Mohamed Muizzu, has announced that his administration will fight back against the threat of ocean flooding by building fortress islands while scrapping previous plans of relocating citizens of Maldives.

Maldives Rising Sea Levels

Maldives is known as for its white sand beaches and breathtaking islands, making it a popular holiday getaway for travelers worldwide and a destination for several water sports. It is also famous for its turquoise waters and widespread coral reefs. However, rising sea levels have threatened to swallow the island nation located in the middle of the Indian Ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka and India.

Earlier this year, scientists suggested that building higher islands or artificial islands could save Maldives from sea level rise, a problem that caused some residents of islands in Maldives to evacuate to its capital Male. In a study published in the journal Environmental Research Climate in February 2023, researchers suggest that land claim and island raising could be a solution for the sea level rise problem of Maldives.

According to NASA, images from the Landsat satellite showed that land cover in Maldives has increased significantly between 1997 and 2020. This is caused by the construction of an artificial island aimed to relieve crowding in Male amid rising sea levels. This looming natural disaster not only threatens Maldives but also the Indian Ocean archipelago, according to reports.

Also Read: Floating Paradise: Maldives to Build Floating City to Adapt to Rising Sea Levels

Maldives Fortress Islands

Due to the persisting threats posed by climate change and sea level rise, the Maldives government has expressed its plan to move toward building fortress islands. President Muizzu announced that the Maldives will stand against climate change-driven waves and rising sea levels by engaging in land reclamation projects and building higher islands, according to reports on Monday, November 20.

The Maldives relocation plan mentioned earlier started 15 years ago, during the country's former president Mohamed Nasheed, who warned Maldives citizens that they could become Earth's first environmental refugees that involves relocation to another country.

Since the relocation initiative has been scrapped, Muizzu is seeking international funding worth $500 million to protect the country's vulnerable coasts, asserting that Maldivians will not be leaving their homeland. The environmental threat faced by the Maldives is based on previous estimates by scientists that ocean waters will swallow most of the island nation's land area by the end of the 21^st century.