UPI 22 Jul 11;
MALE, Maldives, July 22 (UPI) -- The Maldives needs domestic reform and international support to offset climate change risks that threaten to inundate the island nation, a U.N. official said.
"The impacts of climate change on the ordinary lives of the people of the Maldives are real and clearly visible," said Chaloka Beyani, the U.N. special envoy on human rights of the internally displaced, in a statement. "Addressing these impacts through mitigation and adaptation measures is necessary and urgent and will require partnerships with the international community."
Beyani said the Maldives needs a law on disaster risk reduction that addresses issues such as climate change-induced displacement.
Rising sea levels and global climate change threaten to submerge the Maldives within decades.
Beyani said climate change threats reach to issues such as the right to housing and safe water. Meanwhile, suffering brought on by coastal erosion and rising sea levels are too obvious for the country to ignore.
"I saw that Maldivians have a history of resilience that can be harnessed to address these new challenges in locally suitable ways," Beyani said. "It is also essential to put in place climate change-induced displacement preparedness measures applying a human rights-based approach and mechanisms for the participation of affected communities."
