Mr Chairman, President of IFAD, Distinguished Governors, Ladies and Gentlemen!

On behalf of my delegation and myself, I would like to congratulate the President of IFAD and the Secretariat.  I am very impressed with the excellent preparation, organization and arrangements for this Thirtieth Session of the Governing Council.  

It is the hard work of this dedicated organization that makes our stay fruitful.

Mr Chairman

We live in an increasingly interdependent world.  This used to be a cliché that few people took seriously.   In the past it was merely fashionable to say that we are interdependent.  But now we are waking up to sometimes inconvenient realities. 

The issues and threats are real and acknowledged even by the most adamant of skeptics.  Human behaviour, how we treat each other and how we allocate and exploit natural resources in the global environment have far reaching consequences.

We share a planet and its resources.  We also share our problems.

Desertification may appear to be of little consequence to the Maldives, from a narrow perspective. 

Yes, it leads to reduced food security for all nations.  What is more, desertification is a manifestation of a much larger problem that threatens us all.

Land use and land reform may not mean much if barren deserts keep expanding, if icecaps are melting, if the seas are rising, if coastal zones are getting inundated and if entire islands could be washed away.

A holistic humane approach from a human perspective to address the needs of the most vulnerable is fundamental to addressing climate change.

I am fully convinced, therefore, that the implications of global climate change are relevant to our agenda in this meeting, today. 

We are engaged in land management issues, we are engaged in food security and, we are engaged in rural employment and poverty alleviation. 

We seek to improve livelihoods through agriculture; crops, livestock, forestry and marine resources. 

Climate change could derail our numerous efforts and achievements in all these areas. 

This imperils our very existence. 

As stated by the President of the Maldives, His Excellency Maumoon Abdul Gayoom at the UN General Assembly last year, “Civilization is under serious threat from the continued degradation of the environment and its resultant effects of global warming, climate change and sea-level rise. The small island states like the Maldives and other low lying regions of the world are in the frontline of danger from the rising seas.”

In the past, the people of the Maldives have shown great resilience in the face of disaster. 

This is primarily due to the spirit of support and cooperation extended by island communities, and the support of the international community including IFAD.

We still need your help because there are major hurdles ahead.

We thank you for the continued support. 

Mr Chairman

On one hand, globalization, a revolution in world wide communications, and increasing trade, have led to a greater realization of interdependence.  However, there is a danger that we forget to focus on the rural poor. 

For example, in the recent drive to substitute carbon fuel with ethanol, there is a serious implication on food security.  Land for fuel or for food.  In this conflict, who will be the loser?   If we continue to ignore the plight of the poor, substitution to ethanol may lead to even greater environmental costs.  We have to find the right balance.

We have to open more markets for rural produce.  We have to take measures to enable fair pricing.  If we believe that new technologies and globalization would by themselves solve all our problems, we would fail to protect the future of the planet.

Without alleviating poverty and addressing the concerns of the most vulnerable segments of world population, we cannot address issues of climate change effectively. 
Without improving rural employment and livelihood in developing countries in particular, we would face social and political disaster on a global scale.

Mr Chairman

It is time that we took proactive action to protect the most vulnerable of nations.
In an interview to Reuters recently, my President said,  "The average height of the Maldives is 1.5 metres above mean sea level. Therefore, if the rate of sea level rise per century is 59 cm, it would take a couple of centuries at the most to totally inundate the entire Maldives,"

We cannot afford to be complacent about climate change.  We cannot address land management and desertification issues without attention to climate change.
IFAD also has a role to play in this regard.
Therefore, I propose that IFAD launches a special programme addressing the future concerns and needs of small island nations and coastal communities such as fisherfolk and farmers in the Bay of Bengal, with specific reference to climate change.

Mr Chairman

We are extremely grateful to IFAD for the support it gives to fisheries and agriculture in the Maldives.  IFAD programmes are crucial for employment and poverty alleviation in the Maldives. We sincerely appreciate your technical and financial assistance in these areas. 

We are working hard to achieve our common and shared goals, for a better tomorrow.

Thank you!

Hon Abdullah Kamaludeen
Governor, Minister of Fisheries Agriculture and Marine Resources, Maldives