- At COP31 in Antalya, President Muizzu called for predictable climate grants that help small island states fund adaptation without adding to their debt.
- He urged fresh contributions to the Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund and Loss and Damage Fund, plus recognition of island vulnerabilities by lenders and credit rating agencies.
- The Maldives recently gained direct Green Climate Fund access through MFLC, while past grants provided safe drinking water to about 106,000 people across 29 islands.
The Maldives is pressing for climate finance that helps small island states pay for adaptation without increasing their debt. Delivering the country’s national statement at COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, President Dr Mohamed Muizzu called for predictable grants and urged international lenders and credit rating agencies to give greater weight to the long-term benefits of climate resilience.
President Muizzu said climate grants should add to existing funding commitments. He called for fresh contributions to the Green Climate Fund, the Adaptation Fund and the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, arguing that reliance on loans places the cost of responding to climate change on countries that contributed little to it.
The appeal comes two years after countries at COP29 in Baku agreed to mobilise at least USD 300 billion a year in climate finance for developing countries by 2035, with developed countries taking the lead. The target draws on public and private sources. The Maldives’ proposal focuses on the terms of that funding and how reliably vulnerable countries can access it.
President Muizzu also urged international financial institutions and credit rating agencies to account for the particular vulnerabilities of small island developing states. He called for assessments of climate investments to reflect how spending on resilience can reduce future economic losses.
The Maldives gained a domestic route to the Green Climate Fund in October, when the fund accredited Maldives Finance and Leasing Company Private Limited (MFLC). The company can now submit proposals directly to the fund, with each project subject to approval. President Muizzu described it as the first national direct access accreditation for an Asian small island developing state.
Climate grants have already helped address water shortages in the Maldives. A Green Climate Fund grant of USD 23.6 million helped finance a project implemented by the United Nations Development Programme that provided safe drinking water to about 106,000 people across 29 islands. President Muizzu identified water, food and energy security as national priorities and called for financing and technology transfer that would allow small island states to carry out their own climate plans and measure the results.
