**The government of the Maldives is set to hold a cabinet meeting six metres underwater to highlight the threat of global warming.**President Mohamed Nasheed and his cabinet will sign a document, calling for global cuts in carbon emissions.
Ministers have been training for weeks for the dive, and will communicate with white boards and hand signals.
Officials from the low-lying island nation say the dive is “a bit of fun”, intended to send a serious message.
The Maldives stand an average of 2.1 metres (seven feet) above sea level, and the government says they face being wiped out if oceans rise.
Military minders
Three of the 14 cabinet ministers will miss the underwater meeting because two were not given medical permission and another is abroad, officials said.
While underwater, the government will sign a document ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, calling on all nations to cut down their carbon emissions.
World leaders at the summit are aiming to create a new agreement to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
Mr Nasheed, who is already a qualified diver, will also hold a news conference in the water.
Each minister will be accompanied by a diving instructor and a military minder.
On Friday, ministers carried out practice dives off the island of Girifushi, about 20 minutes by boat from the capital, Male.