16 December 2011, New York; The Permanent Representative of 
the Republic of Maldives to the United Nations, H. E. Mr. Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed, participated in a panel discussion hosted by the United Kingdom Mission to the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration to launch the latest report from the Foresight Programme on migration and global environmental change.
In his opening remarks, the Ambassador praised the report for its coverage of this issue of such great significance to the Maldives and many other developing countries. He also stated that the Maldives was in agreement with much of the report and welcomed its role in furthering the discussion on the importance of addressing climate change. The report recognizes that people who may be forced to migrate for any reason will face some hardships. It recommends that a global response will be needed that includes continued and increased funding and support for developing countries, including the transfer of technology to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change.
However, the Ambassador said there are a few key points that Maldives could not agree to. For one, Mr. Ghafoor said, the recognition of “environmental migrants” as a unique group deserving of specific protection under international law would be a “reasonable and helpful” step. In addition, the Ambassador reminded the audience that there is a great distinction that must be made between (a) an individual deciding to move to a new area and (b) the need to relocate an entire country, as may be the case for countries like the Maldives if global sea levels continue to rise. The Ambassador suggested that this report in some ways reflects the fact that larger, developed countries do not always “grasp the seriousness of what it means when we say that climate change is an existential threat” to our nation. He explained that the Maldives is fighting to preserve “our culture, our civilization, and our national identity,” all of which would be potentially lost if the Maldivian people were forced to leave their homes. The Ambassador stated that the relocation of the entire country was not an acceptable option for the Maldives.
Ambassador Ghafoor concluded by restating that the Maldives believes that the real problem is a lack of global political will to deal with the underlying issue of climate change and that immediate action must be taken to limit global greenhouse gas emissions at a level that is safe for the entire planet. He said this is the best way to reduce the need for people to migrate due to environmental change and remove the threat to the existence of Maldives and other small island states.
The report is the culmination of three years of work by the United Kingdom Office for Science and was carried out in consultation with hundreds of experts in a range of academic fields, including climate change and migration. The report is entitled “Migration and Global Environmental Change: Future Challenges and Opportunities” and can be found at http://bis.gov.uk/assets/bispartners/foresight/docs/migration/11-1116-migration-and-global-environmental-change.pdf.
