Malé, Maldives – Speaker of Parliament and Former President, Mohamed Nasheed has said that airports can be built in Maldives even without reclaiming land for them.
Speaking at the public forum on Climate Change Bill, Speaker Nasheed told that there are various technologies being used around the world to live on the sea and that even airports can be developed without reclamation of lagoons using such technologies and techniques.
Speaker Nasheed further added that such technologies are being successfully used in countries like Denmark and Holland and that Maldives should explore such options in development as well. He further added that even harbors and jetties could be built using such methods and even housing can be provided without having to reclaim land so that Maldives natural resources do not get ruined.
Without reclamation, without damaging our reefs, we can even develop airports. And we need to divert our efforts in that direction as well. No need to be afraid
Speaker of Parliament and Former President, Mohamed Nasheed
While the parliamentary Committee on Environment and Climate Change has proposed to change the name of ‘Climate Change Bill’ to ‘Climate Emergency Bill’ after their reviews, Speaker Nasheed had told that the bill should be more focused on enforcing the country to opt for more renewable sources of energy. He further added that by minimizing the burning of fossil fuels to generate power, the country would benefit economically with the changes.
Speaking at the session held today at the Parliament, Environment Minister, Dr Hussain Rasheed also emphasized that Maldives needed to explore options of development where the environment does not get damaged while not hindering developmental efforts of the nation. He also added that with the new bill, solution to this would also be achieved.
According to Ministry of Environment, the aim of the bill is to improve coordination, strengthen national institutions, increase stakeholder engagement and integration of climate change in to sectoral plans so that the overall climate change governance of the Maldives will be strengthened.
In addition to this, the bill will also ensure that Maldives meets obligations under international conventions and agreements relating to climate change and the objectives of the national climate change policy framework endorsed by the government in 2015.
