The right to survive climate change

Jeffrey Salim Waheed | 26th October 2021 | Comment

MAHIBADHOO, MALDIVES - DECEMBER 17: Concrete blocks are placed along the shoreline to try and prevent further coastal erosion, on December 17, 2019 in Mahibadhoo, Maldives. The Maldives is the worlds lowest lying country with a highest natural point of just 2.4 meters above sea level. As well as an increasing population, the nation faces a number of problems caused by climate change including rising sea levels, unpredictable weather, a shortage of drinking water, coastal erosion and declining fish stocks. With no rivers or streams on any of the islands, Maldivians have traditionally lived from fishing and except for Male and a handful of other islands, most islands rely on rain for drinking water and, increasingly, bottled water brought in from other islands. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Maldivian diplomat Jeffrey Salim Waheed calls on Cop26 to enshrine the need for a human rights-based approach to tackling the climate emergency

In climate change diplomacy, the representatives of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have always found allies in conservationists, technical experts and environmental scientists. We are the frontline in the fight to save our planet and through decades of declaiming empirical evidence and irrefutable facts, the cold reality of our predicament is now dawning upon humanity.

Time and time again, I stand at podiums and lose myself in the eyes of a member of the audience coming to terms with that reality. I walk into rooms where researchers and scientists offer commiserations, lamenting how my people are endangered, and stating outright that it is too late for my people and my nation. They graciously commend me for lending weight to a fight that cannot be won; for the simple reason that winning would entail a monumental effort, unrivalled in human history. I believe we have the capacity to mount that effort.

Relentless advocacy

In 1987, the Maldives became the first nation to speak of climate change, and share scientific evidence of its impact, at any multilateral forum. Although we were met with scepticism then – and face similarly regressive attitudes in today’s world – every nation currently in existence recognises the inherent threat climate change poses.

As the lowest-lying nation on earth, the Maldives not only played a key role in bringing the climate crisis to light, …

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