Despite our nation’s miniature population of only about 300 thousand living on tiny coral islands that are enveloped in the mightiness of the Indian Ocean, we now have gained a global reputation: It is not due to the exemplary democratic transformations that took place a year ago. Neither is it due the natural exquisiteness of our island. But it is entitled to the vulnerability of Maldives to climate change and our nation’s proactive effort to combat it.
Especially over the last year, under the rule of our enthusiastic president Mr Nasheedh more than once we have garnered the attention of international climatic institutions and environmental activist from all corners of the world. While our president established himself as a trailblazer in climatic talks our nations has also become an inspiration to countries as varied as Barbados and Tanzania to Kiribati and Rwanda that are equally susceptible to climate change.
In this context one might wonder how a country that barely appears on Google Earth is making a constant and everlasting impact on Google News. The answer is obvious. It is sometimes ridiculed but often times the pioneering initiatives of our president that has resulted in global media uttering our nation’s name. From the audacious announcement of making the country carbon neutral by 2020 to the highly acclaimed and equally castigated underwater cabinet Meeting held in May our nations’ determination to set an example for other countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change has been depicted vividly.
In a two day conference on climate change on November 9 Mr Nasheedh has said that a group of vulnerable, developing countries committed to carbon neutral development would send a loud message to the outside world." He further asked an important question “If those with the least (pollution) start doing the most, what excuse can the rich have for continuing inaction?" A question that would only be answered at the COP15 summit.
President Nasheedhs annocunment, few months ago, that he would not be able to take part in COP15 climate summit due to domestic budgetary constraint too made international headlines. But as we know now with financial assistance from UN and European Union our president too will contribute in the making of a successor document to the soon expiring 1997 Kyoto Protocol. "Copenhagen can be one of two things. It can be an historic event where the world unites against carbon pollution in a collective spirit of co-operation and collaboration, or Copenhagen can be a suicide pact.” President Nasheedh has said.
The 190 country climate change conference at Copenhagen by many is believed to the most important climatic conference of the century that would potentially save or destroy the earth. If the countries participating in the summit could not reach a decisive consensus with comprises then the efforts expended by a lot of countries like Maldives and people like the co-founder of 350.org, Bill McKibben would all be futile.
The road to Copenhagen so far has been bumpy. There has been ups and down. Both at a local level here in Maldives and at a global level. The most recent been the leaked emails of Climate Research Chief Phil Jones of University of Anglia’s Climate Research Unit. Phil Jones Data that were manipulated and exaggerated on climate change and global warming has been the basis of climate change policies made my many governments and is one of the most significant aspects of the COP15 summit.
This leaves us with the question can our presidents innovative high morale approach to COP15 would be inspiring enough to produce a favorable result that would save our nation? Or is our nation is at any risk all along?
This article was written on December 3,2009.
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