ABSTRACT
Climate change has long been considered a global security threat for it gravely endangers the climate and ecosystems of the Earth. Not surprisingly concerted action through regional and global cooperation is necessary to deal with the challenge. Although the increasingly serious problem would affect all the nations, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), small and low-lying island states like the Maldives will be affected most adversely in spite of being least responsible for climate change. Compounding the problem, these islands run the risk of being inundated as a result of global warming and sea level rise bringing along with its numerous other human security problems. This chapter purports to bring out the magnitude of the problems of climate change and sea-level rise faced by the Maldives. The chapter is divided broadly into three sections. In the first part, the setting is established through a general discussion of climate change and sea-level rise. The next two substantive parts devoted to the Maldives, respectively, are on the nature and gravity of the problems and the policies adopted by the Maldives in coping with them. Also important will be to highlight the efforts of the Maldives to shape the international debate on the issue.
