Budget constraints and lack of funding from foreign investors have prevented the vulnerable island state from moving forward with its ambitous plans to become carbon neutral within a decade.
The president of the Maldives Mohammed Nasheed said Monday he plans a $3-a-day green tax for all tourists at its popular island resorts to help pay for the country's ambitious goals in fighting climate change.
Budget constraints have so far kept the government from moving forward with its plan to become carbon neutral, as it awaits foreign investors willing to pay for green development projects.
The country's tourism ministry says the Maldives had 683,012 tourist arrivals in 2008.
Since taking office last year, Mohammed Nasheed has emerged as an important voice on the impact of climate change amid fears that within a century, rising ocean levels could swamp this Indian Ocean archipelago. Its islands average 7 feet (2.13 meters) above sea level, making the Maldives the lowest-lying nation on Earth.
Nasheed has announced plans for a fund to buy a new homeland if the 1,192 low-lying coral islands are submerged. He also has promised to make the Maldives, with a population of 350,000, the world's first carbon-neutral nation within a decade.
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