“As a low-lying, small island State, Maldives is very vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and associated sea-level rise”, read the report. The Rapporteur further highlighted “the impact of climate change on the acceleration of coastal erosion, frequency of storms and flooding and the rise of the sea level [to have] a dramatic impact on the housing and livelihood of many Maldivians. Climate change had aggravated and would further amplify some of the problems linked with Maldives characteristics, including land scarcity and the vulnerability of the islands to natural phenomena. Such changes had an impact on the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing”, stated the segment on the Maldives.Responding to the report, the Maldives Representative to the Third Committee thanked the Special Rapporteur for her visit to the country earlier this year and emphasised the particular challenges faced by the Maldives. “The Maldives deems access to adequate housing as a fundamental human right, and an integral component of socio-economic development”, read the Maldives statement. It further detailed on the Government’s “policy, to provide quality affordable housing to all citizens of the Maldives; via a housing scheme targeted towards the low-income strata of the population”. Drawing attention to the Government’s pledge to become carbon neutral by 2020, the Maldives concurred with the Special Rapporteur that developing countries also had obligations at the national level, in the context of mitigation of climate change.