leftchick
07-12-2008, 07:49 AM
http://www.ipsnews.net/print.asp?idnews=43158
Shiraz Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 11 (IPS) - When the president of the Maldives, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, addressed the U.N. General Assembly about 20 years ago, he warned of the possible death of his tiny Indian Ocean island if steps were not taken to curb climate change.
At an expert panel discussion on climate change last week, the Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdullah Shahid asked a logical question: "Why have the warnings of the past 20 years gone unheeded?"
A nation consisting of around 1,190 individual islands, the Maldives is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change as most of the islands are only 1-2 metres above sea level.
According to the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), sea level rise caused by global warming is very likely to exacerbate storm surges and coastal erosion of small islands.
Such events damage the infrastructure of human settlements and have numerous adverse health and economic effects. Fresh water resources and agricultural soil is contaminated, marine ecosystems which support fisheries are polluted, and non-indigenous invasive species spread throughout these islands.
Shahid, who chaired the panel discussion on "the economic, social, and human rights implications of global climate change", posed a series of questions.
"Why does mankind continue to pursue manifestly unsustainable economic growth strategies at the expense of the global ecosphere?" he asked. "Most importantly, how can we change the global debate on climate change? And how can we move the world from an attitude of self-indulgent negligence to one of shared responsibility and global solidarity?"
Shahid went on to say that the global attitude of negligence towards climate change is partly due to its perception as an abstract scientific issue, and that there has not been enough emphasis on its humanitarian consequences.
He concluded that, "The world has failed to humanise climate change."
The Maldives have taken measures to mitigate the effects of climate change, including the construction of a 60-million-dollar concrete sea wall around the capital of Male and the construction of an artificial island that stands well above sea-level.
However, these efforts are not a permanent solution and if climate change continues to accelerate at its current pace, the Maldives may not survive.
Shiraz Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 11 (IPS) - When the president of the Maldives, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, addressed the U.N. General Assembly about 20 years ago, he warned of the possible death of his tiny Indian Ocean island if steps were not taken to curb climate change.
At an expert panel discussion on climate change last week, the Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdullah Shahid asked a logical question: "Why have the warnings of the past 20 years gone unheeded?"
A nation consisting of around 1,190 individual islands, the Maldives is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change as most of the islands are only 1-2 metres above sea level.
According to the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), sea level rise caused by global warming is very likely to exacerbate storm surges and coastal erosion of small islands.
Such events damage the infrastructure of human settlements and have numerous adverse health and economic effects. Fresh water resources and agricultural soil is contaminated, marine ecosystems which support fisheries are polluted, and non-indigenous invasive species spread throughout these islands.
Shahid, who chaired the panel discussion on "the economic, social, and human rights implications of global climate change", posed a series of questions.
"Why does mankind continue to pursue manifestly unsustainable economic growth strategies at the expense of the global ecosphere?" he asked. "Most importantly, how can we change the global debate on climate change? And how can we move the world from an attitude of self-indulgent negligence to one of shared responsibility and global solidarity?"
Shahid went on to say that the global attitude of negligence towards climate change is partly due to its perception as an abstract scientific issue, and that there has not been enough emphasis on its humanitarian consequences.
He concluded that, "The world has failed to humanise climate change."
The Maldives have taken measures to mitigate the effects of climate change, including the construction of a 60-million-dollar concrete sea wall around the capital of Male and the construction of an artificial island that stands well above sea-level.
However, these efforts are not a permanent solution and if climate change continues to accelerate at its current pace, the Maldives may not survive.