Bangkok--13 Jul--UNISBKK
Male- The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) and the Maldives Government today reached agreement on a pragmatic and innovative approach to help protect the island nation from typhoons, droughts, and rising sea levels caused by changes to the world’s climate.
“The earth does not have a problem with climate change, it’s us humans who live in it who do. In the Maldives we have serious coastal erosion problems, and we are afraid of already losing some islands because of this. Climate change is making this problem worse,” said Mohamed Nasheed who was elected President in 2008.
Maldives is already leading by example on climate change mitigation having adopted a radical economy-wide carbon neutral plan for the next 10 years, the first and most comprehensive in the world. Today’s agreement will assist the island nation to adapt better to the changing climate through the development of a comprehensive disaster risk reduction strategy and implementation plan.
“We need to focus on what should be done, like moving towards a low carbon economy and risk reducing adaptation practices, instead of arguing on what shouldn’t be done which has characterized the climate change negotiations,” Nasheed explained.
President Nasheed received the UNISDR mission Sunday, 12 July, and agreed to immediate actions to address disaster risk reduction in the context of reducing climate change impacts. Senator Loren Legarda of the Philippines, the UN’s Champion for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation for the Asia Pacific region led the mission.
As part of the agreement, UNISDR and partners will immediately assist the Government develop a Strategic National Action Plan on Disaster Risk Reduction (SNAP), which shall provide strategic direction, and actions for reducing disaster risks in the country. Moreover, a partners and donors
forum to put the strategy into practice, and a leaders forum to place the issue atop the global agenda ahead of the climate negotiations this December in Copenhagen were also agreed upon. These activities are in addition to ongoing training for teachers, engineers and architects and government officials on practical ways to reduce the risks of disasters.
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change forecasts that the seas are likely to rise by up to 59 centimetres by 2100, due to global warming.
Most of the Maldives is just 1.5 metres above water and combined with such issues as beach erosion, water shortages and limited shore defences, the tipping point for the Maldivians to leave the islands may come sooner than 2100 as a result of a particularly severe storm or drought. Disaster reduction action now can delay this inevitable event by decades.
Senator Legarda commended President Nasheed for his bold approach for the future. “Countries like Maldives are the most vulnerable and the least capable to deal with the effects of the changing climate. They are also the smartest, the innovators and the leaders in out-of-the-box thinking. We need to take inspiration from what they are doing in climate mitigation, and assist them as they battle disasters made worst by global warming,” she said.
Having similar views and concerns on contemporary climate change responses and development practices, Nasheed and Legarda agreed to form an alliance of innovative leaders of nations at risk that gives voice to vulnerable countries in the face of global warming.
In 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami caused a wave of up to 4.7 meters in Maldives, killing 82 with 26 missing. The tsunami also destroyed 15,000 homes, and damaged a large number of hospitals, schools, and transportation and communications infrastructure. This disaster showed the Maldives the need for preventive action to lessen the effects of and prepare for future disaster events.