Maldives president calls for ’survival pact’
Maldivian leader Mohamed Nasheed decries the 'logic of the mad house'President Mohamed Nasheed decries the ‘logic of the mad house’ of climate negotiations
In his opening speech at the Climate Vulnerable Forum in the Maldives, President Mohamed Nasheed delivered a plea for a ’survival pact’ to be put into force ahead of the climate conference in Copenhagen next month.
As the leader of a nation faced with imminent inundation from rising sea levels the president pledged ‘not to die quietly’ and lambasted the negotiating approach of other countries who aim to ‘keep their emissions high’ calling it ‘the logic of the madhouse’.
Excerpt from the president’s opening address:
“We are gathered here because we are the most vulnerable group of nations to climate change.
Some might prefer us to suffer in silence but today we have decided to speak…we will not die quietly.
Members of the G8 rich countries have pledged to halt temperature rises to two degrees Celsius. Yet they have refused to commit to the carbon targets, which would deliver even this modest goal.
At two degrees we would lose the coral reefs. At two degrees we would melt Greenland. At two degrees my country would not survive.
As a president I cannot accept this. As a person I cannot accept this.
I refuse to believe that it is too late, and that we cannot do any about it. Copenhagen is our date with destiny. Let us go there with a better plan.”
Nasheed called on all nations to push for carbon neutrality in order to ensure the survival of his country and all the most vulnerable people around the world:
“After all, it is not carbon we want, but development. It is not coal we want, but electricity. It is not oil we want, but transport. Low-carbon technologies now exist, to deliver all the goods and services we need. Let us make the goal of using them.”
Finally, he made the distinction between what might be considered a good deal in Copenhagen, and one that would ensure the end of his people:
“At the moment every country arrives at the negotiations seeking to keep their own emissions as high as possible. They never make commitments, unless someone else does first.”
“This is the logic of the madhouse, a recipe for collective suicide.”
Well said. A great round of applause. Underdeveloped countries are the most vulnerable groups to climate change. Why should underdeveloped countries pay for what they have not done. COP 15 is the right time for countries like Maldives to raise their voice with full rights and dignity. All the developed and developing nations responsible for climate change should come with concrete measures to reduce their carbon emissons with duely signed committments and should provide substantial fund, support and alternatives to the nations who are most vulnarable to climage change in order to cope with it.
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