World's First Carbon Neutral Nation will be Maldives: President

Over the coming ten years the Maldives will make the transition to renewable energy, making it the world’s first entirely carbon-neutral country, President Nasheed announced on March 15th.

The Maldives is made up of 26 atolls – coral islands that, together, cover 298 square kilometres of ocean. The latest available figures intimate its population to be around the 358,000 mark.

Solar and Wind Power for Energy

The President highlighted how the Maldives would abandon fossil fuel activities and, instead, draw on solar and wind power for its energy needs. While the area is a highly popular holiday destination, the emissions created as a result of travel to/ from the islands, he added, would be offset through the purchase and destruction of European Union carbon credits.

“Climate change threatens us all”, President Nasheed asserted.

“Countries need to pull together to de-carbonize the world economy. 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."

Total Carbon Neutrality

To achieve total carbon neutrality, 155 wind turbines would need to be installed, along with solar panels that, combined, cover an area of 0.5 km squared. Each of the turbines would need to be capable of supplying 1.5 megawatts of power.

The project through which these renewable energy sources would be set up also foresees the need for a back-up plan and, accordingly, battery power would be available for times when the strength of the sun or the wind is insufficient.

With a limited supply of finances available from the Maldives’ prime money-making activities, namely the tourism and fishing industries, external investment is a must if the project is to go ahead. Investors, therefore, are being sought.

The geographical position of the Maldives means that no part of it lies in excess of six feet above sea level, making it especially likely to be affected by rising tides created in line with climate change.

Representatives of the scientific community present at the International Scientific Congress on Climate Change, held recently in Denmark, highlighted the rapid pace of climate change on a previously uncharted scale.

The sea, they said, could have risen by one metre by the end of 2099, helped by ice and glacier melts.