Maldives to get bulk of aid for climate adaptation

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

ani321gePresident express optimism for a binding accord

President Mohamed Nasheed has said US $ 30 billion has been pledged for climate change adaptation out of which 10% or US$ 3 billion will come to the small island countries to help fund their climate adaptation programs. He said this will help Maldives and other low-lying small island countries which are most vulnerable to global warming in their struggle to combat climate change. The President, who has played a key role at the Climate Summit in Copenhagen in pressuring world leaders to reach a binding target in green house gas emission, has said so at a news conference held at Male International Airport on his return yesterday.

President Nasheed said although he was not happy with the outcome of the Summit, he feels it is a good beginning which will lead to a meaningful and binding agreement. He said the 2 degree target set by the Summit will be enforced by all countries and it will be a good start. Nasheed stated Maldives will get a good amount from the US$30 billion funding and that money will be used to start some adaptation programs such as water supply, sanitation coastal engineering and health services. He said the entire 30 billion is a grant of which EU has contributed $10 billion, Japan US$11 billion and USA US$3 billion. He said the US need to do more on this front and he will urge President Obama for more US support. The President said the money which will be available in full in 3 years. He attributed the idea to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. According to reports Prime Minister Brown dedicated a great deal of political will to reach an accord in Copenhagen.

President Nasheed could not tell how much Maldives will get from this pledge as allocation of the funding will be decided by a core group. He said he thinks Maldives will be in the Group and when in the Group it will not be good to ask for a big share but he is hopeful of getting a bulk of it for his country. President Nasheed elaborated that during the few days left in December he has to write to some leaders to do what appeared to be some business he was entrusted with in order to get the deal going. He appeared to have taken some responsibilities from the Summit which he did not disclose. A further US$100 billion will be received in 2013 for tackling the adverse effects of climate change and then Maldives and other low lying countries will get substantially more funds from it. He explained the bigger share of the grant will go to countries facing drought, deforestation and Sub Saharan countries.

The President said in Copenhagen he and many colleagues especially from the island nations worked hard to save the Summit from collapsing. There were many difficult moments in the negotiations and the President persuaded some leaders who have boycotted a meeting to join it. Nasheed has made an impassioned plea to leaders not to let the Summit collapse. Many leaders and environment NGOs and critics have praised President Nasheed for his relentless efforts and leadership. According to informed sources, President Obama also telephoned President Nasheed and requested his support in averting a collapse of the Summit as President Nasheed was popular among the leaders of developed and developing countries. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said President Nasheed played a very important role in the Summit and the President’s statement that we are all Maldivians was very right implying that whatever happens to Maldivians from Climate peril will happen to all humanity eventually. Host Denmark’s Prime Minister in a news Conference immediately after the close of the Summit said paid tribute to President Nasheed saying he is the hero of Copenhagen.

Despite optimism of President Nasheed and other like minded leaders, poor countries and critics were furious when the Summit failed to produce a binding and more positive deal, They said world leaders have missed the best chance to get a deal that would stop warming escalating out of control. They also blamed politicians have listened to corporate lobbyists funded by big businesses and thus the Summit failed. Some leaders in developing countries and Pacific said the deal amounted to betrayal. Critics went on to say world leaders have failed in Copenhagen, but millions of people around the world have woken up and they have come together to create a movement the like of which the world has never seen.

In Copenhagen President Nasheed together with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrick Reinfeldt, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and South African Environment Minister participated in the Greatest Debate on Earth hosted by BBC. In September Nasheed has been named by TIME magazine as the top Environmentalist of the world following his outstanding contribution at the UN Climate Summit in New York. In October, President Nasheed held the historic first under water cabinet meeting in the Maldives.

The Summit agreed to set a mitigation target to limit warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius after US President met leaders of India, China, Brazil and South Africa and a few other leaders. It is not a binding goal and will not be enough to get to where the world needs to get by 2050. According to the reports, this will not help save island countries from the impending peril of sea level rise. Scientists have warned these countries would disappear from the surface of the earth by 2050.

The President Nasheed received a rousing welcome upon his arrival in Male where large crowd of supporters congratulated him for his outstanding performance in Copenhagen.

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