tagged w/ climate action
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Former president Mohamed Nasheed, who resigned last month in what he claimed was a de facto coup, warns the country will now find it difficult to make its voice heard on the global
When Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed resigned last month, many people outside the archipelago were shocked to hear the leader, famed for once holding a scuba diving underwater cabinet conference to raise the alarm on rising sea levels, may have been ousted in a de facto coup.
The country was plunged into a political crisis when Nasheed agreed to step down on 7 February amid protests against his rule. He later said he was forced to leave by an army "mutiny" and resigned at gunpoint, a claim denied by Mohamed Waheed – Nasheed’s successor and former vice president, who said the transfer of power was constitutional.
The Commonwealth has suspended the Maldives from its human rights watchdog, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, and at the time of writing is in talks with both parties to try and agree an early election date.
The new parliament was expected to reconvene today after Nasheed's supporters stymied the first attempt on 1 March by blocking Waheed from entering the house, branding the new administration a "rebel government".
Speaking in an exclusive interview with BusinessGreen, Nasheed reiterated his call for an early election, warning the unrest has undermined the Maldives' reputation. He predicted the new government would now struggle to make an impact on the global political stage, particularly in the climate change arena.
"One of the things with us, was that there was nothing the international community could say about us… We were not beating anyone up, we were not doing anything drastically wrong," said Nasheed, who was elected president in 2008, following 30 years of military rule.
"The international community also took the Maldives as a leading country in human rights, in implementing democracy… and, therefore, it was easy for us to go out and advocate with all the moral authority behind us.
"Now this government won't have the moral authority for such advocacy and, therefore, I think it's going to face a huge challenge on climate change negotiations," added Nasheed.
Nasheed’s resignation will also come as a blow to those countries arguing for swift action on climate change. He was widely hailed as a leading voice for the small island states, many of which will be the first to suffer from rising sea levels.
The 1,200 low-lying islands that make up the Maldives are home to 385,000 people, but none of the coral islands are more than 1.8 metres above sea level and they are at serious risk of being inundated if the latest scientific predictions that sea levels could rise by more than one metre by the end of the century prove accurate. Nasheed has even floated the idea of moving the resulting "climate castaways" to Australia.
The Island President, a documentary screening in London this week and nationwide from 3 April, tracks Nasheed’s first year in office, culminating in a behind-the-scenes report of his trip to the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit, which includes his powerful plea to fellow negotiators to sign the Copenhagen Accord when talks were on the brink of collapsing.
But while Nasheed is no longer in a position to play a formal role at the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC), he told BusinessGreen he would try to attend the 18th Conference of the Parties in Qatar in December, as well as the preceding Bonn conference in May, where negotiators will hold the inaugural session of the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, agreed in December last year.
“My environmental beliefs don't necessarily stand from where I hold office, so I will always campaign, but the work that I can do as president is far more substantial," he said. "So in that sense I would like to contribute to the climate change debate and I think it’s very, very important that people understand the gravity of the issue. This is not something in the future, but is something that is happening now."
More at the linkFormer president Mohamed Nasheed, who resigned last month in what he claimed was a de... more
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Flood damages in coastal counties alone would be well over $4.7 Trillion by 2100 (accounting for half of the value of insured properties). Then we tack on the costs of adaptation, hurricane intensity, heat waves, public health, ozone levels, water scarcity, transportation, agriculture, energy infrastructure, loss of income from tourism, and wildfires... to name a few.
Or we can just ignore the experts, wait it out, and hope for the best.Flood damages in coastal counties alone would be well over $4.7 Trillion by 2100... more
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I admit, it feels a little weird to say, "We're featuring posts on climate change on Thursday!" since after all...we feature content on climate change every day...but we are inspired by the theme, and are looking forward to participating in Blog Action Day!
There are 2 ways to participate:
1. Opinion/News Blog posts on our www.current.com/green
Goto current.com/green, go to the top right corner and hit "add something"
Add your blog post (a link to your original post will automatically be generated)
Don't forget to add a photo
Title your piece: "your title: Blog Action Day" for example, if the title of my piece is "wiser earth" I would title it, "Wiser Earth: Blog Action Day"
2. Poetry and Art will be featured on the Current Green blog
We are dedicating the Current Green blog to artistic expressions inspired by climate change
Email your post (WITH LINKS if there are any) to llamb@current.com with"blog action" in the subject headline
Looking forward to an extra inspired day with all of you~
Need a reminder about Blog Action Day?
Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day on their own blogs with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be the largest-ever social change event on the web. One day. One issue. Thousands of voices.
Climate change affects us all and it threatens more than the environment. It threatens to cause famine, flooding, war, and millions of refugees.
Given the urgency of the issue of climate change and the upcoming international climate negotiations in Copenhagen this December, we think the blogosphere has the unique opportunity to mobilize millions of people around expressing support for finding a sustainable solution to the climate crisis.I admit, it feels a little weird to say, "We're featuring posts on climate... more
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leahl
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added this
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2 years ago
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Evan Kopelson covered GGCS2 the Governors' Global Climate Summit in Los Angeles. In this clip, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of CA talks about how sub-national governments, specifically the State of California, are leading the nation towards comprehensive climate action.Evan Kopelson covered GGCS2 the Governors' Global Climate Summit in Los Angeles.... more
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I was rather un-enthused by this event. I dont see how playing 350 MJ songs or drawing a big 350 in the sand is going to solve anything. Why didn't 350.org use their organizing power to manifest something real and effective, like 350 coal plant sit-ins?
I generally have a problem with partying for causes, especially when partying is the reason for the cause (if you want to consider the Industrial Revolution coupled with Capitalism a 250 year-long party, which I do).
Even if you participated in writing 350 letters to Congress. You think they read those things? If they dont even read the bills they slab their John Hancock on, how do you expect them to read letters from peons (i'm roleplaying) and the ignorant masses? I'd wager they dont read one single letter from a concerned citizen of their constituency, let alone 350 of them.
so, what's next? people know 'global warming', people know 'climate change', and now people have a vague idea of standard molecular ratios for the air they breathe. So when does the TV get turned off, or the cars traded in for bicycles?I was rather un-enthused by this event. I dont see how playing 350 MJ songs or drawing... more
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Now more than ever, we need President Obama's leadership to stop global warming, and he needs to hear from YOU and everyone you know. Join us on October 24th to make sure that President Obama understands that the time for politics has passed and that the time for leadership is now. We cant do it without you.Now more than ever, we need President Obama's leadership to stop global warming,... more
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"They are calling it one of the biggest U.S. protests on climate change _ hundreds of activists gathered around a tiny power plant in Southeast Washington that heats and cools the Capitol.
While small in size, the 99-year-old facility is a symbol of the challenges ahead for Congress on energy and the climate.
That's because as lawmakers gear up to pass legislation to reduce the gases blamed for global warming and clean up the nation's energy sources, they have yet to succeed in their own backyard.
"We are holding it up as a symbol for how we can and must do better," said Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, one of 40 environmental groups organizing the protest to call on Congress to pass a bill to curb greenhouse gases. Among those expected to attend are NASA scientist James Hansen, who first testified before Congress about the perils of global warming in 1988.
Hansen has called for a halt on building any new coal-fired power plants without technology to capture and store carbon dioxide, the most prevalent greenhouse gas and the chief one at the Capitol Power Plant.
In 2007, the facility released 118,851 tons of carbon dioxide, according to the Energy Department _ a fraction of what the nation's 600 coal-fired power plants produce.
But despite repeated attempts by Congress to clean it up _ including provisions in two 2007 laws _ the plant still burns coal and accounts for a third of the legislative branch's greenhouse gas emissions.
Efforts to make the plant run more efficiently, reduce energy consumption and use more cleaner-burning natural gas have succeeded in recent years.
But Congress is running out of options to make it fully green. On Friday the House announced that it was abandoning its goal to be carbon neutral and would no longer buy offsets to make sure it was removing as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it releases. Those offsets were key to zeroing out emissions at the plant that could not be reduced by other means.
There are also questions as to whether Congress can afford to pay for more natural gas.
The story of the Capitol Power Plant is one likely to play out across the country as Congress looks to limit greenhouse gases and require more energy to come from wind, solar and other renewable sources....""They are calling it one of the biggest U.S. protests on climate change _... more
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leahl
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3 years ago
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This really isn’t about polar bears any more. At this very moment, the fate of civilization itself hangs in the balance.
It turns out that the way we have been calculating the future impacts of climate change up to now has been missing a really important piece of the picture. It seems we are now dangerously close to the tipping point in the world's climate system; this is the point of no return, after which truly catastrophic changes become inevitable.
It's not too late yet - but it’s much, much later than you think.This really isn’t about polar bears any more. At this very moment, the fate of... more
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lmmesq
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added this
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3 years ago
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I am writing to you because I am hoping that you will move the Wall Street Journal to honor the commitment even more in spirit than in fact. What I mean is this.
It is far less important to the world for the Wall Street Journal to offset its carbon emissions -- in fact it is probably inconsequential -- than it is for the newspaper's editorial page to cease its shameful and retrograde opposition to climate action.I am writing to you because I am hoping that you will move the Wall Street Journal to... more
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