Photo: Sun Island Resort, Alif Dhaal Atoll, Maldives. Syd Sujuaan, Unsplash. Retrieved from news.globallandscapesforum.org
In the Maldives, there’s really no such thing as higher ground.
The Indian Ocean archipelago is one of the world’s lowest-lying countries, with more than 80 percent of its land sitting less than a meter above sea level. Its highest point, optimistically called Mount Villingili, stands at just 5.1 meters.
This means the country is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis: specifically, sea level rise coupled with increasingly frequent violent storms.
Many residents of outlying islands have already moved to the capital, Malé, which is becoming extremely overcrowded – it’s now one of the most densely-populated cities in the world – and itself very exposed to storms and flooding.
The tough questions the Maldives has been facing for decades – who moves, who stays and who decides – are likely to become uncomfortably familiar to many more of us in the coming years as climate change reshapes landscapes across the globe.
As various solutions are trialed, it’s becoming increasingly clear that we need to consider social elements of adaptation and relocation: justice, community building and relationships to place.