We anchored at Uligan in the Maldives for a couple of weeks during our circumnavigation. The country is interesting on many levels. It’s an island nation in the Indian Ocean, with the Equator stretching through it, comprising 1,192 islands and islets, of which 200 are inhabited. Of its approximately 35,000 square miles, only 115 are dry land,
From a climate perspective, the Maldives faces challenges. Its highest elevation is 7’10”! Therein lies one problem with ocean levels rising, but that is a topic for another time. An insightful op-ed in the October 12, 2023 New York Times by Shauna Aminath, the country’s Minister for the Environment, Climate Change, and Technology, addresses a different aspect of the impact of climate change common to most small developing countries: energy sources.
Traditionally, the Maldives relies on imported diesel for generators: expensive and polluting. The World Bank and the United Nations have both noted the difficulty of the low and middle-income countries “caught in the poverty trap; they are unable to afford the high up-front costs of switching to clean energy, and they are locked into higher costs and recurring payments for fossil fuels.” [World Bank, April 2023 report.]
The solution lies in debt relief for developing countries, called for by both the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. A successful solar project in the Maldives was underwritten by the World Bank, thus making it attractive to foreign investors. Investors will sell the electricity created by the solar installations to the grid at an agreed-on rate, which will power 13,000 households and save $20 million on diesel costs. This project can serve as a model for many others around the world.
For more on our stay in the Maldives, read the Belles-Lettres entry for 5/1/24.