Scientists Discover a New Ecosystem – “The Trapping Zone” – That Is Creating an Oasis of Life

By UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD DECEMBER 7, 2022

Nekton Omega Seamaster II Submersible. Credit: Nekton Maldives Mission (c) Nekton 2022

The new ecosystem is located in the depths of the Indian Ocean.

Researchers from the University of Oxford and the Nekton Maldives Mission have discovered evidence of an ecosystem known as “The Trapping Zone” that is creating an oasis of life 500 meters (1640 feet) under the surface of the Indian Ocean. The Maldives Government has hailed the finding as highly significant.

Video evidence from Nekton science cameras onboard the Omega Seamaster II submersible, together with biological samples gathered and extensive sonar mapping, show that predators such as sharks and other large fish feed on swarms of small organisms known as micro-nekton in this zone. These marine organisms can swim against the current and often migrate from the deep sea to the surface at night before returning to the depths in the morning (known as The Vertical Migration). However in this region, at 500 meters (1640 feet), the micro-nekton get trapped against the subsea landscape.

Nekton Maldives Mission. Credit: Nekton Maldives Mission (c) Nekton 2022

The Maldivian atolls’ volcanic subsea strata and fossilized carbonate reefs combine steep vertical cliffs and shelving terraces. The trapped animals are then targeted by large pelagic predators, including schools of tuna and sharks, along with well-known, large deep-water fish including the spiky oreo (named after the biscuit) and alfonsino. Tiger sharks, gill sharks, sand tiger sharks, dogfish, gulper sharks, scalloped hammerhead sharks, silky sharks, and the very rare bramble shark were all documented by the mission.

Marine ecosystems are defined by both topography and ocean life. “This has all the hallmarks of a distinct new ecosystem,” explained Professor Alex Rogers (University of Oxford) who has spent over 30 hours underwater in the mission’s submersibles observing ‘The Trapping Zone’ during the expedition. “The Trapping Zone is creating an oasis of life in the Maldives and it is highly likely to exist in other oceanic islands and also on the slopes of continents.

Bramble Shark. Credit: Nekton Maldives Mission (c) Nekton 2022

Lucy Woodall, Associate Professor of Marine Biology at the University of Oxford and Principal Scientist at Nekton, said: “We’re particularly intrigued at this depth — why is this occurring? Is this something that’s specific at 500 meters, does this life go even deeper, what is this transition, what is there, and why? That’s our critical question we need to ask next. Why are we seeing the patterns that we have observed on this expedition? This will enable us to understand the deep ocean in much better terms.”

A video summary of the Nekton Maldives Mission’s discovery of the Trapping Zone. Credit: Nekton Maldives Mission (c) Nekton 2022

Whilst a trapping effect has been associated with biodiversity hotspots on subsea mountains or seamounts, it has not previously been linked to the different geomorphology and biological parameters of oceanic islands, like the Maldives

Nekton Omega Seamaster II Submersible. Credit: Nekton Maldives Mission (c) Nekton 2022

Analysis of the video and biological data is ongoing in the Maldives, Nekton’s UK headquarters in Oxford, and at partner laboratories. The discovery could have important implications for other oceanic islands and the slopes of continents, sustainable fisheries management, the burial and storage of carbon and, ultimately, climate change mitigation.

President of the Maldives H.E Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, said: ‘The discovery of ‘The Trapping Zone’ and the oasis of life in the depths surrounding the Maldives provides us with critical new knowledge that further supports our conservation commitments and sustainable ocean management, and almost certainly support fisheries and tourism.’

The Nekton Maldives Mission is coordinated and managed by Nekton, a not-for-profit research institute based at Begbroke Science Park in Oxford. The mission is a partnership between the Government of Maldives, Nekton, and the University of Oxford alongside a dozen organizations in the Maldives and an international alliance of technology, philanthropy, media, and scientific partners. The purpose is to conduct the first systematic survey of ocean life in the Maldives, from the surface to 1000 meters deep, to help inform conservation and sustainable development policies. Until the mission, almost nothing was known about what lay below 30 meters (100 feet) deep in this region.

Credit: Nekton Maldives Mission (c) Nekton 2022

Oliver Steeds, Chief Executive and Mission Director of Nekton said: ‘The Maldives Mission has been co-created and co-produced with our Maldivian colleagues to meet national priorities with all data and biological samples owned and vested with the Maldives. Nekton’s scientific leadership is anchored by our research team from the University of Oxford and it’s this scientific collaboration between the Maldives and Oxford that is at the heart of the mission’s success and long-term impact.’

The mission set sail on September 4 and was at sea for 34 days. Other discoveries from the mission so far include:

• Ancient beach lines: Terracing and wave erosion at depths of 122m, 101m, 94m, 84m, and 55m revealed evidence of different beach lines from sea level rise over the last 20,000 years since the end of the last glacial maximum.
• Coral Reefs: The mission systematically mapped, surveyed, and determined the location, health, and resilience of coral reefs in six major locations to inform the Maldives Government’s conservation and management policies. The reefs are essential to life in the Maldives and help reduce the impacts of sea level rise and the increasing frequency and intensity of storms caused by climate change.
• A deep-sea refuge: At depths from 120 meters to 300 meters, the team systematically surveyed the Rariphotic Zone for the first time in the Maldives — home to corals, reefs, and organisms, some of which are highly likely to be species new to science.

Mohamed Muizzu wins Maldives election in victory for pro-China camp

Incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih concedes defeat shortly before midnight after Muizzu wins 54 percent of the vote.

Published On 30 Sep 202330 Sep 2023

Mohamed Muizzu has won the presidential election in the Maldives after a second-round run-off against incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, which was seen as a test of the Indian Ocean archipelago’s nascent democracy as well as its ties with China and traditional benefactor India.

Muizzu, 45, leads a party that welcomed an influx of Chinese loans and oversaw a wide-ranging crackdown on dissent when it was last in powerend of list

Incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih conceded defeat shortly before midnight after the Elections Commission of the Maldives said Muizzu had won 54.06 percent of the vote in the run-off contest.

“Congratulations to president-elect Muizzu,” Solih wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Thank you for the beautiful democratic example shown by the people in the elections,” he added.

Solih, 61, will remain as caretaker president until his successor’s inauguration on November 17.

Muizzu, 45, emerged as the surprise frontrunner during the first round of voting on September 8, taking some 46 percent of the ballots cast. Solih – hurt by a low voter turnout and a split within his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) – won 39 percent.

The run-off was seen as having significant implications for the Maldives’s foreign policy, especially in deciding China and India’s battle for influence in the strategically-located country.

Maldives President Ibrahim Solih casts his vote [Dhahau Naseem/Reuters]

“Today’s result is a reflection of the patriotism of our people. A call on all our neighbours and bilateral partners to fully respect our independence and sovereignty,” Mohamed Shareef, a top official from Muizzu’s Progressive Party of Maldives, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

Muizzu, who is currently the mayor of the capital Male, made a brief appearance outside his party’s campaign headquarters to urge supporters not to celebrate until Sunday morning, when campaign restrictions officially come to an end.

Muizzu, a one-time housing minister, played a pivotal role in an earlier government’s development programme, bankrolled in part by financial largesse from China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.

He told a meeting with Chinese Communist Party officials last year that his party’s return to office would “script a further chapter of strong ties between our two countries”.

The party’s return to power might also mean freedom for former President Abdulla Yameen, Muizzu’s mentor.

Yameen, who lost power in 2018 as he moved the country closer to China and became increasingly autocratic, is serving an 11-year prison term for corruption and money laundering. His supporters say the charges against him are politically motivated.

Watchdog group Transparency Maldives said there had been some incidents of “electoral violence,” without specifying further details.

There were more than 282,000 eligible voters and turnout was 85 percent, slightly higher than the first-round vote.

India, China angle

Solih, who was first elected president in 2018, was battling allegations by Muizzu that he had allowed India an unchecked presence in the country.

Solih has insisted that the Indian military’s presence in the Maldives was only to build a dockyard under an agreement between the two governments and that his country’s sovereignty will not be violated.

Muizzu promised that if he won the presidency, he would remove Indian troops from the Maldives and balance the country’s trade relations, which he claimed were heavily in India’s favour.

Muizzu’s supporters call for the release of arrested Maldives’ former president Abdulla Yameen [Mohamed Afrah/AFP]

Ahmed Shaheed, a former foreign minister of the Maldives, described the outcome as a verdict on the government’s failure to meet economic and governance expectations rather than concerns over Indian influence.

“I don’t think India was at all in the people’s minds,” Saheed said.

Solih suffered a setback closer to the election when Mohamed Nasheed, a charismatic former president, broke away from his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and fielded his own candidate in the first round. He decided to remain neutral in the second round.

“Nasheed’s departure took the motherboard away from the MDP,” Shaheed said.

Yameen, leader of the Progressive Party of the Maldives, made the Maldives a part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative during his presidency from 2013 to 2018. The initiative is meant to build railroads, ports and highways to expand trade – and China’s influence – across Asia, Africa and Europe.

Nevertheless, Muizzu is unlikely to change the foreign policy of affording an important place to India. Rather, opposition to Chinese projects is likely to lessen, evening power balances out, Shaheed said.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

Fate of India ties, democracy in balance as Maldives votes in run-off

Voters in the Maldives choose their next president in a run-off election closely watched by China and India.

By Al Jazeera Staff
Published On 30 Sep 202330 Sep 2023

Voters in the Maldives are casting their ballots in a presidential run-off that could determine the fate of the Indian Ocean archipelago’s nascent democracy as well as its ties with China and India.

The election on Saturday pits President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who has championed an India-first policy, against the mayor of the capital, Mohamed Muizzu, whose opposition coalition sought closer ties with China and oversaw a wide-ranging crackdown on dissent while in power from 2013-18.end of list

Muizzu emerged as the surprise frontrunner during the first round of voting on September 8, taking some 46 percent of the ballots cast. Solih – hurt by low voter turnout and a split within his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) – won 39 percent.

But with the incumbent leader ramping up his campaign – including with pledges of handouts and warnings of a return to authoritarianism should his opponent win – the run-off looks too close to call, according to observers.

Polling opened at 8am local time (03:00 GMT) and will close at 5pm (12:00 GMT). Vote counting begins immediately afterwards, and the results will likely be known within hours.

Some 282,804 people in the country of 500,000 people are eligible to vote.

Here’s what you need to know about the Maldives’s high-stakes election.
China-India rivalry

The run-off has significant implications for the Maldives’ foreign policy, as the outcome could be key in deciding China and India’s battle for influence in the strategically located archipelago.

Solih, who won the last election in 2018 amid widespread anger over corruption and human rights abuses under his predecessor, has brought the Maldives closer to India, obtaining more than $1bn in loans for housing and transport projects in the capital, Male.

The Maldives owes a similar amount to China.

Under Solih’s predecessor, Abdulla Yameen, Beijing funded a first-of-its-kind bridge connecting Male to its neighbouring islands, as well as upgrades to the Maldives’s main international airport.

The infrastructure projects have driven the Maldives’ debt to 113 percent of the country’s GDP at the end of 2022, with India and China estimated to hold 26 percent of GDP each.

N Sathiya Moorthy, a political commentator based in the Indian city of Chennai, said for both Beijing and New Delhi, Saturday’s election is “about the predictability of their Maldivian relations under the next presidency”. Solih is by now predictable for both, he said, but Muizzu – who is contesting the election after Yameen was jailed on a corruption conviction last year – spells uncertainty.

This is because Muizzu’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM)-led coalition has launched a vitriolic “India Out” campaign seeking to reduce what it calls New Delhi’s outsized influence in the country’s affairs. “India has become the unnamed issue in this second round of polling with anti-India social media posts doing the rounds much more than in the first,” Moorthy said

.

The Maldives’ main opposition candidate Mohamed Muizzu participates in a rally [Mohamed Sharuhaan/AP]

Fears for democracy

A change in government will not only test the country’s foreign policy, but also its fledgling democracy.

Muizzu’s opponents say the mayor – who was a cabinet member in Yameen’s government – could return the country to the authoritarianism seen under the former president. While in office, Yameen presided over a wide-ranging crackdown on dissent that included the jailing of nearly all opposition leaders, the prosecution of journalists and a huge corruption scandal, in which tens of millions of dollars were stolen from public coffers and used to bribe judges, legislators and members of watchdog institutions. He also turned a blind eye to the growing presence of groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS), even after the killing of a young journalist and a blogger.

“The Maldivian experiment with democratic politics is still very precarious,” said Azim Zahir, a lecturer and research fellow in international relations and politics at the University of Western Australia in Perth. “This very experiment was under serious threat when PPM was in power. The fact that Muizzu was a cabinet minister of that government makes me really nervous for the future of democracy should he win the election.”

Amid the fears, Muizzu has repeatedly pledged not to go after his political opponents.

“I do not support brutality,” the 45-year-old mayor told the Dhauru newspaper last week. “I will not take action against my opponents for disagreeing with me … Everyone will have the opportunity [to carry out political activities].”
Ruling party split

Solih, meanwhile, has dismissed Muizzu’s assurances.

The incumbent has portrayed Saturday’s vote as a contest between democracy and autocracy.

“This election is a choice between peace and stability in the Maldives, or brutality, fear and chaos,” the 61-year-old president told supporters on the eve of the run-off. “If you do not vote [for me], the whole of Maldives may have to mourn and shed tears.”

With much at stake, the president has sought to win the backing of third, fourth and fifth placed candidates in the first round, but to no avail.

The politician who came in third in the first round of voting was Ilyas Labeeb, who won seven percent of the ballots cast. Labeeb was the candidate of the Democrats, a party founded by Parliament Speaker and former President Mohamed Nasheed, who fell out with Solih after losing a bitterly contested presidential primary earlier this year.

Nasheed and the Democrats accuse Solih of failing to fulfil campaign pledges he made in 2018 to ensure justice for the Maldives’s biggest corruption scandal as well as the al-Qaeda-linked killings. They also accuse his government of putting in place a vast system of patronage, using state-owned enterprises to buy out the media and hand out thousands of jobs to ensure political loyalty.

The government denies the claims.

Without the backing of the Democrats, Solih comes to the second round with a “significant disadvantage”, said Ahmed Shaheed, a former Maldives foreign minister and professor of international human rights law at the University of Essex in the United Kingdom.

“It is quite striking that [Solih] has not managed to put together a firm coalition. And without an open endorsement from [Nasheed], it is unlikely the Democrats will vote for Solih,” Shaheed said.

“It’s going to be a very tight contest,” he added. “I don’t think anyone is in a position to comfortably declare that the election is theirs.”

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

State.gov

https://www.state.gov/countries-areas/maldives

Maldives - United States Department of State 

U.S.-Maldives Relations ... The United States established diplomatic relations with Maldives in 1966 following its independence from the United Kingdom and has ...

Worldbank.org

https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/maldives/overview

Maldives Overview: Development news, research, data | World ... 

The economy is heavily dependent on tourism which has been the main driver of economic growth in Maldives and the dependence on tourism makes the country highly ...

 

Controversial Chinese Research Vessel Schedules Port Call in Maldives

Xaing Yang Hong 3 which is due in the Maldives has created controversies in Sri Lanka and Indonesia in the past (Bakamla file photo)

PUBLISHED JAN 26, 2024 8:47 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

Tensions are being sparked in the Indian Ocean region with news that a Chinese marine research vessel, Xiang Yang Hong 03, will be making a visit to the Maldives starting next week. News of the visit has raised questions if the new president of the Maldives, Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, is attempting to form closer ties with China and draw away from the relationship with India fostered by his predecessor.

The Chinese research vessel is part of an ongoing controversy across the region. Officially it is reported to be conducting distant water and deep sea surveys on behalf of China’s Pilot Ocean Laboratory. Built in 2016, the vessel is part of a fleet of ocean research vessels launched by China and since 2019 has been reported to be conducting scientific research. Analysts however note that China appears to be blurring the lines between scientific and military research.

Tracking services are reporting the vessel recently entered the Indian Ocean. They said it had transited the Sunda Strait in Indonesia and was heading toward the Maldives. The vessel which approximately is 4,800 tons had been said to be planning a stop in Sri Lanka around the beginning of the year. However, reports surfaced that Sri Lanka informed China it was imposing a one-year moratorium on Chinese research vessels from docking in the country’s ports.

Sri Lanka has been under pressure from the United States and India to curb the activities of the Chinese in the region. India has adamantly opposed the increase of activities by Chinese research vessels in all parts of the Indian Ocean.

The Maldives President just concluded a diplomatic visit with China reporting that they had reached terms on a broad range of agreements. This was followed by the announcement on January 23 that the Chinese government had requested the necessary clearances from the government of the Maldives for a port call by the Xiang Yang Hong 03. 

The vessel is officially reported to have the capabilities to conduct studies ranging from the salinity of the ocean to underwater mineral exploration, underwater and environmental studies. It is believed it is also used for mapping surveys. 

The government of the Maldives in December reported it would be terminating a hydrography agreement with India for the water of the Maldives. The official position is that the information belongs to the Maldives and they do not want to have international studies, but many questioned if it was another sign of a cooling of the relationship between the new government and India, which had been pursued by the previous president. The agreement with India requires six months’ notice for termination which is now scheduled for June 2024.

“The Maldives has always been a welcoming destination for vessels of friendly countries and continues to host both civilian and military vessels making port calls for peaceful purposes. Such port calls not only enhance bilateral ties between the Maldives and its partner countries, but also demonstrate the centuries old tradition of the Maldivian people welcoming vessels from friendly countries,” the government wrote in an official statement addressing the media reports over the arrival of the Chinese ship.

The government of the Maldives said the clearances sought were to make a port call for rotation of personnel and replenishment. They emphasized the vessel would not be conducting any research while in the Maldivian waters. The Xiang Yang Hong 03 is due to arrive in the capital of the country, Malé, on January 30. It is unclear how long it will be staying. 

 

Ocean Mapping is the Next Front in Battle for Influence in Indian Ocean

China is now offering itself as an alternative provider of hydrographic services to many countries.

PUBLISHED MAR 31, 2024 4:23 PM BY THE LOWY INTERPRETER

 

 

[By David Brewster]

Hydrography, the mapping of bodies of water and surrounding coastal details, is the new front in the battle for influence in the Indian Ocean. There is growing competition among India, China and others to chart international waters as well as the exclusive economic zones of countries around the region. Smaller nations are pushing back, wanting to build their own sovereign capabilities and control over information about their maritime domain. Australia can play a useful role in finding ways to build local capabilities and ameliorate this new source of strategic competition.

More than just crucial for the safely at sea of commercial and private boats and ships, hydrographic data is also essential for naval operations, including surface vessels and submarines, as well as emerging commercial activities such as seabed mining.

It’s said that humanity knows more about the surface of the Moon than the ocean floor. This is particularly the case in the Indian Ocean, which is among the least charted oceans in the world. During the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines MH370 in 2014 it became evident that we had little idea of what the ocean floor looked like. Indeed, many countries in the region still often use colonial-era charts from the 19th century.

Hydrography is now assuming a geopolitical focus with major powers competing to provide hydrographic services to countries with few capabilities or little expertise in this area. This is used to demonstrate regional leadership and, more importantly, gain access to data vital for military purposes such as submarine operations. Underlying this are important issues of sovereignty. Who should own or control information about the sea, particularly in areas of national jurisdiction?

India has long sought to position itself as a regional provider of hydrographic services. It has a fleet of about seven hydrographic vessels and has conducted approximately 100 foreign hydrographic surveys, including in Maldives, Mauritius, Kenya, Tanzania, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Seychelles just in the last few years. India also builds local capabilities, including training for around 800 foreign nationals from countries throughout the Indian Ocean, Asia and Africa.

Accepting hydrographic assistance makes a lot of sense for many countries in the region that may have large exclusive economic zones with little idea of what is down there. But what was once considered to be uncontroversial is now much more fraught.

China is now offering itself as an alternative provider of hydrographic services to many countries. Chinese agencies operate more than 30 oceanographic surveillance and research vessels, many of which also have electronic surveillance capabilities.

But while Chinese offers of assistance can be tempting for many, letting them map areas of national jurisdiction has become highly controversial. India, in particular, has significant concerns about China’s research activities in the Indian Ocean, particularly near the Bay of Bengal where India’s nuclear submarine fleet is based.

These issues have come to a head in Sri Lanka. The presence of Chinese research vessels in Sri Lankan waters, most recently the Shi Yan 6 in October 2023, drew loud protests from New Delhi. Shortly after, Sri Lanka announced an effective 12-month moratorium on research by all foreign research vessels while it worked out what to do about the issue. The Sri Lankan government later moved to cancel an agreement between a Chinese institute and a local university under which China gained easy access to Sri Lanka’s waters, and its hydrographic data. The government also created a new agency under the Ministry of Defence to supervise hydrographic research.

Controversy was reignited after a German research vessel was allowed to dock in Colombo for replenishment last week.

Hydrographic information is not only a security issue but also an economic one. Through regaining control over its hydrographic data, the Sri Lankan government hopes to make considerable profits from providing electronic charts to the hundreds of ships that pass Sri Lankan waters every day. To achieve this, Sri Lanka needs to develop its sovereign hydrographic capabilities. The United States and Australia are considering what assistance can be provided.

Similar controversies are unfolding in nearby Maldives, an island state with a tiny population but a huge maritime jurisdiction. In December last year, the newly elected Maldives government announced that it would not renew an agreement with India under which India was undertaking hydrographic surveys of Maldives waters. This has created a vacuum in Maldives hydrographic needs.

In February, the Chinese research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 03 docked in Maldives’ capital after undertaking three weeks of hydrographic surveys just outside the exclusive economic zones of Maldives, Sri Lanka and India. (From the location of the survey it’s probable that its main purpose was for future People's Liberation Army Navy submarine and anti-submarine operations.) Days later, Maldives signed a defence cooperation agreement with China. Its terms haven’t been disclosed but is understood to involve the supply of riot control equipment. Following this agreement, Beijing is pushing hard to expand its security role in the country, which, among other things, will be to allow Chinese vessels to map Maldives waters and possibly even establish a marine research station in the country’s north.

United States, Britain and Australia are now scrambling to find ways to help build Maldives’ sovereign national hydrographic capabilities. Maldives may be well advised to follow Sri Lanka’s example by declaring a moratorium on visits by all foreign research vessels to give it time to build a level of national capabilities to the extent possible. In time, Maldives may also need to find ways of bringing in outside assistance in a way that mitigates sovereignty concerns, for example, through working with coalitions of international partners.

These developments in Sri Lanka and the Maldives are the first steps in what is likely to become a wider regional struggle over ownership and control of critical hydrographic information.  

Dr. David Brewster is with the National Security College at the Australian National University, where he specializes in South Asian and Indian Ocean strategic affairs. He is also a Distinguished Research Fellow with the Australia India Institute. 

This article appears courtesy of The Lowy Interpreter and may be found in its original form here. 

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.

 

Desperate to fund fight against climate change, former Maldives president calls for debt restructuring

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Mohamed Nasheed says without restructuring, the nation can't afford projects to protect islands and citizens

CBC Radio · Posted: Aug 21, 2021

An aerial view shows the Maldives capital Male on Dec. 14, 2009. Former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed says that without debt restructuring, the island nation won't be able to afford needed climate change mitigation projects. (Reinhard Krause/Reuters)

Without debt restructuring, the Maldives will struggle to fund much needed climate change adaptation measures — even as the island nation faces the existential threat of rising sea levels — according to the country's former president.

Mohamed Nasheed, who led the Maldives from 2008 until 2012 and pushed for greater attention to the effects of climate change on the country, says that vulnerable countries will struggle to pay down debt while mitigating the effects of a warming planet.

"The planet has already heated enough, going out of its usual course, and therefore we are going to face challenges with extreme weather coming upon us," Nasheed told Day 6 guest host Faith Fundal.

Among the world's lowest-lying nations, 80 per cent of the islands of the Maldives are only one metre above sea level. That makes the archipelago's approximately 1,200 islands extremely vulnerable to storm surges and severe weather events.

The inhabited islands, about 200, are home to a population of about 530,000 people, which means solutions are needed urgently.

In order to protect the islands, Nasheed says the country must invest in mitigation projects like water breakers to help slow coastal erosion.

But he says with the country spending approximately 30 to 40 per cent of its budget on debt repayment, and another 25 per cent on adaptation measures, the Maldives are facing a financial crunch.

Maldives' former president Mohamed Nasheed led the country from 2008 to 2012. During his tenure, he held an underwater meeting with ministers to draw attention to the effects of climate change. (Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)

The Maldives spends around $10 million annually for coastal protection initiatives, but will need up to $8.8 billion to protect all of its inhabited islands, according to a 2016 estimate by its environment ministry reported by Reuters.

"For us to be able to have a decent living, we must be able to suspend our debt repayment and spend on adaptation measures as well," said Nasheed, who is now an ambassador for the Climate Vulnerable Forum, a group of countries disproportionately affected by climate change.

'Most vulnerable country in the world,' says minister

Speaking on CNBC in May, the Maldives' environment minister Aminath Shauna warned the country could disappear by the end of the century if environmental damage continues at its current pace.

"Climate change is real and we are the most vulnerable country in the world," she said.

As the sea level rises, ocean water is encroaching on land, which is already being consumed by increasingly powerful waves that are eroding coasts. Warmer oceans, too, have resulted in coral bleaching and the loss of biodiversity, impacting the region's fishing industry.

Fresh water supplies have also been contaminated by sea water, requiring costly desalination, Nasheed says.

A resort island in the Maldives. Approximately 80 per cent of islands in the Maldives are one metre above sea level. (Reinhard Krause/Reuters)

It's no surprise that the country, best-known for its luxury resorts, is already preparing for a warmer future. 

The government has built sea walls and is also implementing natural solutions like planting coral reefs to help reduce coastal erosion.

A human-made island, built with sand pumped from the seabed, will be home to the City of Hope — a new settlement that rests two metres above sea level — in the coming years.

• Earth hasn't been this hot in 125,000 years, but scientists say temps are rising much faster now

• WHAT ON EARTH?
  If you're anxious about climate change, here are some ways to feel more empowered

But efforts to mitigate climate change require funding — and Nasheed maintains that will be impossible without debt restructuring for vulnerable countries like his.

"It is through [restructuring] that we would be able to find some space in our budgets to build the water breakers, to build the embankments, to raise our land, to build flood defence systems, to have better irrigation for us to survive," he said.

Tipping point

A report released earlier this month by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that in several scenarios, Earth will surpass 2 C of warming above pre-industrial times within this century unless significant reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades.

On the heels of the report, Nasheed warns the Earth is at a tipping point.

"Everything is going out of control. We are losing the equilibrium of the planet," he said, echoing calls for measures that would limit warming to just 1.5 C and reduce carbon in the atmosphere.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says the world is dangerously close to runaway warming — and that humans are "unequivocally" to blame. 3:48

Even still, Nasheed says he's positive about the possibilities that technology holds in the effort to slow global warming.

"I'm very optimistic, mostly because renewable energy now is financially viable, economically feasible," he said. "Even if people try to sell fossil fuel, soon it [will] go out of the market."

"The world will be challenged. There's no doubt about that…. But the question is, how far can we adapt ourselves to survive the extreme weather that will be upon us?"

---

Written by Jason Vermes with files from Reuters. Produced by Sameer Chhabra.

Hear full episodes of Day 6 on CBC Listen, our free audio streaming service.