The Maldives has issued a stark warning at the UN climate summit in Brazil, urging world leaders to close the gap between promises and action as the planet veers off course to meet the 1.5°C target.
Delivering the national statement at the High-Level Segment of COP30, Ali Shareef, the Maldives’ Special Envoy for Climate Change, spoke on behalf of President Dr Mohamed Muizzu, thanking Brazil for hosting the talks “in the heart of the Amazon” – a symbolic setting for a summit marking the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement.
Shareef said the milestone should serve as a wake-up call.
“For the vulnerable, survival is at stake. We negotiate to defend our present and our future. The Maldives stands ready to act, and we call on our partners to join us.”
He warned that despite decades of negotiations, global efforts remain “dangerously off track”, and called for urgent progress on the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance. Adaptation, he stressed, must be treated as equal to mitigation, with accessible, predictable, and primarily grant-based finance for nations on the frontline of climate impacts.
The Maldives has already submitted its enhanced Third Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), strengthening emissions-reduction measures and safeguarding climate-exposed sectors through 2035. But Shareef said this alone is not enough without global solidarity and resources. He reiterated the Maldives’ call to triple adaptation finance by 2030.
COP30, held amid geopolitical uncertainty and escalating climate disasters, is seen as a critical test of whether multilateralism can still deliver. Shareef is leading the Maldives delegation, participating in high-level events and negotiations aimed at securing commitments that match the urgency of the crisis.
