USAID helps scale innovative climate adaptation technology in Maldives

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and INVENA (PVT) Ltd. have signed an agreement to scale up a technological solution to coastal erosion that mimics nature by harnessing ocean currents to accumulate sand.

Rising sea levels and coastal erosion are significant threats to Maldives, a low-lying island nation in the Indian Ocean.

INVENA, along with its technology partner the Self-Assembly Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have piloted a nature-based solution that minimizes coastal erosion by placing underwater structures that harness ocean currents and wave forces to accumulate sand strategically.

The structures with their defined geometry and placement support the transportation of sediment to naturally gather sand around the structures.

As Maldivian communities face significant exposure to risks associated with coastal erosion induced by climate change, this partnership aims to enhance community resilience.

This partnership also contributes to the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) of the Maldives, which aims to promote the use of evidence-based decision-making on coastal adaptation planning and management of coastal zones.

The partnership, signed Monday, comes in the form of a nearly $250,000 grant from USAID’s five-year Climate Adaptation Project to INVENA, a Male-based research and technology company developing sustainable solutions to fight climate induced threats to low-lying island nations.

Under this partnership, USAID will support INVENA to scale up the technology and explore its commercial feasibility.