Maldivian president calls for increased climate finance commitments at COP29

At the COP29 World Leaders Climate Action Summit, Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu delivered a compelling call for stronger climate action, emphasizing the urgent need for developed nations to enhance their financial commitments to address the climate crisis.

In his address, President Muizzu highlighted that the Maldives, a nation on the frontline of climate change, has recently launched a new energy policy aimed at improving food security, diversifying the economy, and fostering sustainable development, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

The policy also includes the establishment of special economic zones and new development banks to boost the nation's resilience.

However, he stressed that financial constraints continue to impede the realization of these goals, particularly in small island developing states (SIDS), which face disproportionate vulnerabilities due to climate change.

“The shortage of funding is a significant barrier,” Muizzu noted, pointing out that the main theme of COP29—climate finance—was crucial for addressing this issue.

The President called for a new collective climate finance target that accurately reflects the scale of the climate crisis. He urged that this target must also account for the special needs of SIDS, including funding for both adaptation and loss and damage mitigation. Muizzu further emphasized that the global climate finance goal should be integrated with efforts to meet the 1.5°C target and called on developed nations to substantially increase their financial commitments to close the existing financing gap.

In a pointed critique, he noted that, while significant global resources are being allocated to military conflicts, developing nations are left without the necessary funds to adapt to the climate crisis.

“It is time for a reprioritization of global financial flows,” he declared, calling for a comprehensive reform of the international financial system to better support climate adaptation.

Muizzu reaffirmed that the Maldives' delegation was fully committed to securing concrete financial commitments at COP29, with the hope that the conference in Azerbaijan would be the turning point in closing the climate finance gap.

By Vafa Guliyeva