NEW DELHI, September 30. /TASS/. A senior Maldivian diplomat expressed confidence that his archipelagic country will be able to adjust to climate change and not disappear from the global map because of rising sea levels.

Ahmed Shiaan, Maldivian deputy foreign minister, dismissed as irrelevant warnings that the archipelago could vanish from the global map in the next 80 to 100 years in an interview with TASS. "100% we will survive. Because we are already adapting and you are seeing what we are doing [in terms of the] environment concept. <…> And now if you look at the Caribbean and even the Pacific, they are coming to study in Maldives," he said.

"I don't believe Maldives will be wiped off the face of the Earth because of climate change, because we believe in ourselves. We have survived," the Maldivian diplomat continued. "We have survived in our islands for over 2,000 years and I don’t see why they shouldn't survive for another 2,000 years because I think as human beings we are very resilient," he stated.

Also, Shiaan put his backing behind renewable energy, which he said is better than fossil fuels. "And we believe that’s the future. Automatically, that's happening," he concluded.

According to various forecasts, including those from the World Bank, the Maldives risk becoming submerged, with sea levels expected to rise by 10 cm to 100 cm by 2100. By 2050, as much as 80% of the South Asian country may become unlivable amid global warming, the forecasts warn.