COLOMBO, SRI LANKA—Mohamed Nasheed, who took the oath of office on Tuesday as the Maldives’ first democratically elected president, is looking for ways to protect his low-lying island nation from the threat of global warming.

One option calls for the relocation of the country’s entire population.

Nasheed now leads the flattest nation on Earth—with an average height of 2.3 meters (7 feet) above sea level—and one considered particularly vulnerable to the perils of global climate change and rising sea levels.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned of significant rises in the sea level by the end of the century. Climate researchers say that many of the Maldives’ 1,200 islands could disappear if the seas continue to rise.

Ibrahim Zacky, a leader of the Maldivian Democratic Party, said Nasheed had proposed creating a fund so that its people could be relocated in case the nation of 350,000 people became submerged. He refused to give more details of the plan.

At his first press conference as president, Nasheed played down his plan. “We do not want to be environmental refugees. As a nation we should get ready for such an eventuality,” he said when asked about the plan, which he earlier revealed in an interview published in the Monday edition of the Guardian newspaper.

“I did mention a sovereign fund, but we have a lot of financial problems ... and we need international contributions and assistance,” Nasheed said.

The former political prisoner was sworn into office at a private ceremony in the capital of Male following an election victory last week that ended 30 years of single-party rule.

Nasheed, 41, took the reins from Maumoon Abdul Gayoom—a man who jailed him repeatedly on what rights groups say were trumped-up charges.

“No other citizens in the world in modern times have changed a 30-year-old regime so peacefully. I congratulate the Maldivian citizens,” the Minivan News website quoted Nasheed as saying at the ceremony.

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Gayoom, who was ousted as Asia’s longest-serving ruler, did not take part in the swearing-in ceremony.

Gayoom oversaw the transformation of the Maldives from a poor fishing community into one of Asia’s top luxury resort destinations but his critics accused him of ruling the country as a dictator.

He had won six previous elections as the only name on the ballot, but obtained just 46 percent of the vote in last week’s election.

Apologies

In a televised speech on the eve of leaving office, Gayoom apologized for any injustices committed during his rule.

“I deeply regret any actions on my part, whether through an implemented policy, an executive decision or plain negligence on my part, had led to unfair treatment, difficulty or injustice for any Maldivian,” Gayoom said on Monday.

“From anyone who had had to face any such unfair treatment, difficulty or injustice, I sincerely seek forgiveness,” he said.

Violent street protests in 2003 and international pressure prompted Gayoom to start a lengthy reform program that led to his own ouster.

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