A climate change forum under the name “Laamu Climate Change Forum” under the Low Emission Climate Resilient Development Programmeme (LECReD), was held on Monday in Laamu Atoll.
The forum was inaugurated by the Minster of Environment and Energy, Mr. Thoriq Ibrahim.
Speaking at the opening ceremony he stated that extensive efforts have been efforts and important milestones have been achieved in the past year of LECReD. Vulnerability field assessments, disaster preparedness with response maps and a feasibility study for central power provision in Laamu were highlighted among the successful mile stones.
In addition, establishment of local Laamu working groups were acknowledged as it will engage the community in a more intimate manner in implementing the LECReD program. In order to provide an initial and partial solution to this, solar panels would be installed on the public roofs which will provide at least 30% of the daily peak demand. In addition, waste management plans and means would be sought to provide a solution to manage the waste. For the grassroots level engagement of the communities, a small grant scheme would be made available soon. This will be focused on small community projects to be used in various areas such as fisheries, agriculture, and energy.
He also highlighted the importance of having a public forum like the Laamu Climate Change Forum. It will open the opportunity to share the knowledge and experiences among the various groups within the community. Sharing of ideas, lessons learnt and the best practices and coming to a common understanding will enable to fine tune the future projects of this program.
The programme is funded by the Government of Denmark under a grant assistance to address the issues of climate change in Maldives. The programme is to be implemented in 3 years and is executed and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Ministry of Environment and Energy as the Government Focal Ministry.
Government stakeholders, UN agencies, Atoll and island council participated in this inauguration ceremony.