Vulnerabilities and Small Islands

October 24, 2002COP 8 New Delhi, India

The Maldives

Geography

• A chain of coral atolls 860 km long, 80 -120 km wide

• 26 geographical atolls

• Over 5,000 separate reefs

• 1,192 islands

Geography - islands• average height above

mean sea level is 1.5 m• over 80% of land area less

than 1m above mean sea level

• size: from 0.5 to 2 sq.km• 3 islands greater than 3

sq.km• total land area:

approximately 300 sq.km

Vulnerabilities to Climate Change

1. Land loss and beach erosion

2. Infrastructure damage and economic impacts

3. Food security

4. Damage to coral reefs

5. Water resources

Sea level rise

• Most susceptible – least defensible

Land loss and beach erosion

• 80% land area less than 1 m above MSL

Beach erosion

• Severe beach erosion in over 50% of islands

Infrastructure damage and economic impacts

• Airport is extremely vulnerable• Ground level of airport does

not exceed 1.7m above MSL• Runway of airport partly

flooded during high wave incidence of 1987

Infrastructure damage and economic impacts

• Tourism – major source of revenue• Marine dive sites at risk• Infrastructure damage – investment risks

Fisheries

• Tuna main source of protein

• 85kg/yr/capita consumption

• Main export

• Tuna affected by seasonal monsoon as well as ENSO events

Food security

• Agriculture

• Heavy import dependency

• Food storage and distribution

Damage to coral reefs

• Bleaching

• 80% in shallow water

• 30-45% at depths of 10-30m

Water resources

• 25% groundwater

• 25% desalinated water

• 50% rainwater

Thank you