Climate Change Effects in Maldives

Tourism in the Maldives is the largest economic activity, accounting  for 28% of GDP and
more than 60% of foreign exchange receipts. The tourism industry in the Maldives is almost
entirely dependent on physical and geographic factors. Due to its dependence on the tourism
sector and its geographical location the Maldives is exceptionally vulnerable to climate
change and its effect. The predicted climate change would have several very serious
implications on the nation’s main economic sector; tourism, primarily due to the:

 Impacts on marine dive sites due to reef degradation. The coral reefs of the Maldives
are one is a world-renowned diving destination with 25% to 35% of tourists visiting
the Maldives primarily for its diving opportunities. From the Maldivian perspective
this translates to  US$ 17.5 million a year and about 20% of total tourism earnings.
 Decrease in value of the tourism product due to changes to the beach. The white
sandy beaches of the Maldives are an important attraction for tourists. Almost 70% of
tourists visit the Maldives primarily for exotic beach holidays, an incremental sea
level rise devastate coastal areas and  significantly impact the number of tourists.
 Damage to tourist infrastructure due to coastal erosion and inundation. Loss of
beaches and tourist infrastructure due to accelerated sea level rise will devastate the
Maldivian economy. For example the International Airport is the only entry point to
the country by air. Any damage to the international airport by climate change and sea
level rise, will cause extreme loss to the tourism sector
 Changes to the image of the Maldives as a tourist destination due to alteration of
climate and weather patterns.

Importance of Renewable energy in the Maldives

The Republic of Maldives is a chain of low lying coral islands scattered across the Indian
Ocean. It consists of 1192 islands on 26 natural atolls, spreading across an area of nearly
107,500 sq km. The island nature of the Maldives and the fact that the population is spread
across many small islands, providing electricity by means of large turbines and the
distribution of it has not been an economically feasible option. Therefore, electricity in the
Maldives is generated on each island separately using small diesel electricity generators.
Diesel accounts for more than 80% of the total primary energy demand. As a result most of
the country’s foreign currency is used to buy fuel. As the fuel is imported, electricity in the
Maldives is very expensive. Also is very sensitive to the fluctuations of diesel fuel in the
world market.

Now the time has come for renewable energy; energy which comes from natural resources
such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable (naturally
replenished). With rising electricity and fuel prices and a growing demand on energy
supplies, the world is in need of reasonable substitutes in energy source. As the Maldivian
islands are geographically small and does not have flowing rivers or streams, the only
practicable sources for energy creation that can be enforced by means of market ready
technology are solar and wind energy.

Solar energy

Solar energy is the technology used to utilize the sun’s energy and make it useable. Solar
energy is known as an inexhaustible fuel source that is pollution and often noise free. Today,
technology produces less than one tenth of one percent of global energy demand. Maldives is
located in an area (4º 10′N and 73º 30′ E) with plentiful solar energy resources throughout the
year for all types of solar applications.

Data from currently installed photovoltaic (PV) system in the Maldives shows that the
systems to be on for almost 12 hours a day. Even though PV systems are very effective in the
Maldives, because of their space requirement and current initial costs it cannot be used
exclusively on a large scale.

Drawbacks

Other than all those advantages, solar energy has got its drawbacks too. Solar energy doesn’t
work at night without a storage device such as a battery. And also cloudy weather can make
the technology unreliable during the day. These technologies are also very expensive and it
requires a lot of land area to collect the sun’s energy which is needed for lots of people.

Wind energy

Wind is a clean source of renewable energy that produces no air or water pollution. Since the
wind is free, operational costs are nearly zero once a turbine is attached. Wind is the
movement of air from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. Therefore, wind
exists due to an unequal heating of the earth’s surface by the sun. As long as the sun shines,
the wind will blow.
The low lying island nature of the Maldives environment ascertains that there is always a
substantial wind at a sensible height. Wind data collected by the meteorological authorities of
the Maldives implies that wind turbines with low cut-in and operating wind speeds would be
a practicable option in the Maldives. To provide the wind component, wind turbines are used.

Gaafaru (North Male’ atoll)’s wind farm project is so far the major wind farm project
announced in Maldives. It will be a 75 megawatt wind farm built by Falcon energy. This
wind farm will produce clean electricity for North Male’ atoll, which includes capital Male’,
Hulhule’ and a number of luxury tourist resorts.

Drawbacks

Some people think wind turbines are ugly and complain about the noise pollution it makes.
The slowly rotating blades can also kill birds and bats, but not roughly as many as vehicles,
power lines, and high-rise buildings do. The wind also varies. If it is not blowing, no
electricity is generated.

Conclusion

Renewable energy is very important for a country like Maldives. Maldives being one of the
world’s lowest-lying countries, almost 99% of the country is the ocean; it is one of the most
unique nations in the world. By a rise in sea levels of one meter, homes of 385,000 people
will be completely lost. The country would be rendered almost entirely uninhabitable.
Maldives has declared to be the first carbon neutral country in the world by 2020. Moving
onto renewable energy comes under this plan.
President Mohamed Nasheed had said that “Maldives wants to set an example by
demonstrating that a country can develop without having to pollute the planet.”

Disaster Management System

Legal System

The Disaster Management Bill is in its final stages of review at the Atorney General's Office.
The bill seeks to provide a platform at all levels to address disaster mitigation, preparedness,
response, and recovery.

Organization

A presidential decree established the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) soon
after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. It was created haphazardly and its mandate was to
coordinate the recovery process for the tsunami relief effort. However, as things progressed,
the government handed the mandate of disaster preparedness and risk reduction as well to
NDMC. At present, NDMC is under the Ministry of Defence and National Security.

Plan

At present, Maldives lacks a disaster management strategy, policy or a plan. However, work
is underway to formulate a National Emergency Operation Plan (NEOP) to define the roles,
responsibilities, the standard operating procedures, and the framework required to manage
disasters at every level. NDMC will publish the NEOP by the time Parliament ratifies the
Disaster Management Act. Furthermore, NDMC is currently in the process of introducing a
damage assessments toolkit in order for island communities to report the damages they face
due to hazards. This process would introduce a tool to collect damage and needs information,
and provide NDMC timely assessments of the crisis. The first phase of this project is to begin
in 2013. The first phase would focus on institutionalizing the tool and establish procedures
for communities to send information, for NDMC to analyze and share it with other
stakeholders, and finally, how NDMC would get the pre-crisis information.

ADRC Counterpart

National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC)