President Solih returns to Maldives after concluding trip to Glasgow to attend COP26

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has returned to Maldives after concluding the official trip to Glasgow, Scotland to the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26).

President Solih arrived in the Maldives sometime this afternoon. He was accompanied by a high-level delegation during this trip – who has also returned with President Solih.

During this trip – President Solih took part in several high-level deliberations and advocated for major carbon emitters to take responsibility and to scale up their climate finance contributions.

Moreover- he also delivered the National Statement of Maldives at the COP26 World Leaders Summit where he stressed that Maldives is one of the low-lying countries that could disappear off the map because of the climate crisis at any time.

He also brief world leaders on the grim lived realities of Maldivians already due to climate change such as severe erosion at different islands.

He also appealed to world leaders to agree on stringent accountability measures to ensure that commitments on climate finance are met for vulnerable countries like Maldives to stand a chance of survival.

President Solih also met with several world leaders and high-level delegates during this trip.

He also took parts in other events on the sidelines – including Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) - Commonwealth High-Level Panel Discussion, the high-level launching of the Energy Transition Accelerator Financing platform (ETAF) by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the Roundtable Discussion on Understanding Island Climate and the Commonwealth Leaders at the World Leaders’ Summit.

President Solih’s participation in COP26 marks the first time in 12 years that a Maldivian state leader has attended and taken part in a climate change.

After concluding his activities at COP26 – President Solih also traveled to London to take part in the World Travel Market (WTM) 2021 London before heading to Maldives.