Speech by His Excellency Dr Mohamed Asim, High Commissioner of the Republic of Maldives to the United Kingdom on Climate Change and Sea-level Rise: The Maldives Experience at the Global Climate Change Alliance hearing, European Parliament Development Committee Brussels, Wednesday, 2 April 2008 Excellencies, Members of the European Parliament, ladies and gentlemen: I am honoured to be with you in Brussels today. I thank you Mr Chairman and other members and, in particular, Mr Anders Wijkman for the invitation to attend this hearing and commend his ongoing efforts in drafting the report on the Global Climate Change Alliance, the GCCA. This morning I aim to provide you with an overview of the challenges facing a Small Island Developing State and to comment on the European Commission s GCCA initiative. As Mr Wijkman mentioned in his introductory remarks, climate change is undoubtedly the defining issue of our time. It is the fundamental challenge of the 21 st century. For the Maldives, the impacts of global warming pose the most immediate and far-reaching danger to our ecosystems. The degradation of these systems threatens the quality of life of our people, and in the long-term is nothing short of an existential crisis for our islands. 1
Rising sea-levels affects not only coastal areas, but threaten the very survival of our nation. This is why the Maldives has long championed the cause of bringing climate change to the attention of the world. For the Maldives, coral reefs and the beaches are the mainstay of the tourism and fisheries industries and the heart of our economic development. At present, our beaches are eroding at a rate previously never witnessed and stormy weather is now more frequent and intense. To provide a better picture of the vulnerability of our archipelago, allow me to elaborate a bit on our geography. There are approximately twelve hundred islands in the Maldives. I say approximately as the exact number varies according to the seasons and tides. These islands are geographically grouped into 26 ringshaped reefs together with a chain of islands called atolls. Only 200 islands are inhabited. Although our nation covers a wide stretch of the Indian Ocean, only one percent of our territory is on land. The rest is water. We are small in size, lowlying and barely one and a half metres above sea level. This makes us particularly sensitive to even small changes in the global climate. Male, the capital is surrounded by a three-metre sea wall. This protection is only for one of the 200 inhabited islands. And, the protection provided is only against tidal surges, not rising sea-levels, which is the long-term threat. This threat became evident last year. The Maldives experienced tidal surges on an unprecedented scale. Never in documented history has so many islands been flooded over simultaneously and with such devastating consequences. The tidal surges and strong winds experienced in the months of May and June, inundated 2
islands in the north and the south. The surges triggered widespread floods in nearly 66 islands. These tidal surges served as a grim reminder of the devastating tsunami of 2004. Excellencies, Members of the European Parliament, Ladies and Gentlemen The findings of the Stern Review provide clear evidence that the price of inaction is greater than the cost of mitigation and adaptation. Moreover, best practices from our boardrooms and our communities are demonstrating that targeted and integrated action can be meaningful and profitable. Climate change is not just an environmental issue nor is it a scientific thesis; We believe it is first and foremost a human issue. It is already adversely impacting individuals around the planet, due to alterations in ecosystems, and increased incidence of natural disasters. These impacts have been observed to be intensifying in frequency and magnitude. If left unchecked, the changes in our climate system will violate the fundamental human rights we enjoy, including the right to life itself. With this in mind the Maldives led an international initiative of Small Island States to put people back at the heart of climate change policy. In November 2007, we hosted a conference entitled The Human Dimension of Global Climate Change in our capital Male The resulting Male Declaration, on behalf of Small Island Developing States, called on the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner to conduct a detailed study into the effects of climate change on the full enjoyment of human rights. 3
Today, I am pleased to announce that, last Friday, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted by consensus, a resolution tabled by the Maldives government on the subject of human rights and climate change. The resolution was co-sponsored by seventy-five countries from all regions, demonstrating the importance of the issue for millions of people around the world, as well as a common determination among the world s governments to respond decisively to climate change and in so-doing protect the future of vulnerable countries like the Maldives. The resolution will pave the way for a study into the effects of climate change and on the full enjoyment of human rights, especially economic, social and cultural rights. This study will then form the basis for a full Human Rights Council debate on the issue during its March 2009 session. In addition to this, the Maldives intends to be a vocal advocate for a comprehensive framework to replace the Kyoto Strategy. Any international framework must be coherent, must contain the major polluters, and must have at its core, binding and attainable targets. For the Maldives, a projected increase of 2 degrees C is more than we can bear. Finally, we intend to pursue a vigorous programme of public diplomacy to continue to raise awareness on this issue of vital national and global interest. In doing so we will present climate change adaptation and mitigation as opportunities to embrace as well as problems to solve. Excellencies, Members of the European Parliament, Ladies and Gentlemen: The European Commission s Global Climate Change Alliance has been created due to recognition of the fact that Least Developed countries and Small 4
Island Developing States will be hit earliest and hardest by climate change. The themes contained within the planned Alliance all have resonance for a country such as the Maldives. We are waiting with some expectation for the working detail of the GCCA and in particular the support with which EU Member States can add to the initiative, whether in a financial sense or through technical assistance. The Maldives has shown significant interest in the GCCA since the release of the original communication in September 2007. High level meetings between the Maldives Foreign Minister and cabinet members of DG Development were followed by an invitation to the President of Maldives to speak at the EU Development Days in Lisbon on 7 th November 2007. Hence, we hope to be one of the pilot countries chosen to engage in the initial phases of the Alliance. I would like to take this opportunity to commend the efforts made by the European Union in taking a leadership role on action to tackle climate change. I note in addition the very positive negotiating stance during Bali in December 2007. I also note the complex and broad internal EU legislation, the Energy Package, which although ambitious in nature appears to have significant political backing for it to succeed within the deadlines imposed. In addition I welcome the EU Spring Summit conclusions from 13-14 March 2008 in which further drive and impetus was placed upon a global and comprehensive post-2012 agreement on climate change in Copenhagen in 2009. The Maldives derives strength from such efforts as due to its vulnerability as a small island state, even small changes in the global climate can have very grave 5
consequences. In conclusion, I wish to state that, the European Commission s Global Climate Change Alliance provides strong possibilities to benefit, not only from your expertise but also from the financial assurances that are included within the Alliance. We hope, just as the European Commission is requesting, that EU Member States can contribute to the so-called seed money that has already been set aside. Countries such as the Maldives cannot fail to benefit as a result. The importance of this initiative and others like it cannot be underestimated. Indeed, as my President noted in his 1987 address to the UN General Assembly, global warming, if left unchecked, would lead to the death of the Maldivian nation, and others like it. Thank you. 6