It is now a generally accepted view that something must be done to combat global warming and climate change, and the moves made to do so in the last decade have been notable indeed; governments across the world have set up departments that deal with energy and climate change, we have had the Kyoto protocol, and the upcoming Copenhagen climate change summit.

Largely, the moves have been couched in terms of environmental damage, and at times in terms of economic loss or gain. Generally, though, it is not discussed so much as a human issue, and Maldives President Mohammad Nasheed  has called for a global solution to climate change and global warming, claiming that the issue is an issue of human rights.

According to the president, global warming is affecting rising sea levels so drastically around the island that it is affecting the lives of many of the nations’ citizens. Nasheed remarked that,

“We feel that climate change is not an environmental issue, it’s a security issue, it’s a human rights issue…If you thought that defending Poland was important, defending the Maldives is important. If you can’t save the Maldives today you can’t save yourself tomorrow.”

Sea levels across the world are expected to continue to rise, and the Maldives sits just two metres above sea level. With that in mind, Nasheed fears, quite understandably, that the lives of those inside the nation he represents are at serious risk. He has proposed a rigorous policy of carbon neutrality within the Maldives, and hopes that others, in seeing the plight of the islands and in the problems facing themselves, might follow his example.

In a rousing and inspiring statement, he said that,

“We know that the Maldives becoming carbon neutral is not going to decarbonise the world and stop us from annihilation. We know that. But at least we could die knowing we’ve done the right thing..we cannot have an education system, we cannot have a health system, we cannot have a transport system on the carbon economy. If we want to develop we have to find some other source of energy.”

In looking at the Maldives, it is possible to see something of a case in point for the importance of a world carbon emissions reductions deal. Once again, all roads point to Copenhagen.

Source: The Times Online