State of Environment (SOE) 2016 was launched today at a function held at the Ministry. The report was launched by Minister of Environment and Energy, Mr. Thoriq Ibrahim.

The Maldives first produced a State of the Environment (SoE) report for the United Nations Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island States in Barbados in 1994.

This report presented a descriptive overview of trends in development and environmental conditions at that time. Since then, similar reports have been published in 1994, 2001, 2002, and 2004 and most recently in 2011.

The State of the Environment (SoE) is a report which represents an overall analytical overview of the state of the environment here in the Maldives; including a detailed look into the different types of challenges we are currently facing, policies and strategies which are currently in place and those which could be implemented in the future to overcome those challenges.

SoE report address a number of high priority issues pertaining to the country’s environment. These issues include climate change and sea level rise, management of solid waste and sewage, conservation of biological diversity, freshwater resources and air pollution.