Kyoto divided the world — Maldives president

By: G M Mourtoza on December 17th, 2009

COPENHAGEN–Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed said yesterday the Kyoto Protocol has divided the world and called on world leaders to unite against climate change.

The Kyoto Protocol “divided us between rich and poor, developed and developing. Our task now is to unite the world, behind the shared vision of low-carbon growth,” Nasheed said at UN climate talks here in the Danish capital. “This is the endgame, in more ways than one. The negotiations have been fraught, time-consuming and often difficult.”

But he insisted he was “still optimistic that we can leave this meeting with a planet saving deal.”

The Maldives president, speaking at the summit plenary as more than 110 world leaders began to arrive in Denmark, said the talks were more than just another meeting. “This is a matter of life and death. The science is clear. Carbon concentrations higher than 350 parts per million, and temperature rises above 1.5 degrees, will submerge my country, dissolve our coral reefs, turn our oceans to acid and destabilize the planet’s climate.”

He said the United States says it opposes the 350 target because the technologies do not exist to make it a reality.

“But I know there is no limit to American ingenuity. This is the country that first announced it would send a man to the moon, and then worked round the clock to build the Apollo spacecraft. Get the politics right, and the technology will follow. Technical creativity can make great leaps for mankind but political leadership must provide the springboard,” he said.

Nasheed called on developed countries to commit to collective carbon pollution reductions of 40% by 2020, and 95% by 2050.

Mr. Nasheed said the rich world may have caused the climate crisis by filling our atmosphere with pollution. “But two wrongs don’t make a right. If all parties stick to their current lack of ambition at these negotiations, we will reach 650 parts per million and world will warm up to four degrees by the century end.”

The Maldives president urged large developing emitters, including China, to join him in recognising that reducing emissions is not a shared sacrifice, but a common opportunity. “I am sure if China shows leadership, others will follow,” he said.

President Nasheed said this is an enormous opportunity to reduce future emissions before fossil-fuel infrastructure is built. But it cannot be done without financial support from rich countries. “I say to the industrialized world, you have the finances and much of the technology. So, please help us go green.”