On Monday I had the privilege of meeting one of the global climate movement’s greatest new leaders, President Nasheed of the Maldives. The Maldives is a nation of tiny tropical islands located in the Indian Ocean off the tip of the Indian Sub-continent. (Don’t worry I had to look it up too. Map here). This archipelago is the home to 350,000 people who will have their lives destroyed by the climate threat if we fail to act.
I met President Nasheed on Monday night in New York City at a Climate Justice event in which we both spoke at as part of Climate Week NYC. A man of short physical stature President Nasheed has a commanding presence with his illuminating humor and tremendous bravery.
When Mary Robinson, the event moderator and former UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, questioned him about what policy platform he was proposing to the UN he paused and said with a beaming smile: “We simply ask that you let us live.” The audience, myself included, joined him in laughing at his whimsical tone. However, mid-chortle I was suddenly overcome by a deep sadness. I will not soon forget the gravity of his simple plea for human decency and survival. For the 350,000 people of his nation clean energy is not about a lifestyle choice. It is the choice between life and death.
In President Nasheed own words: “Sea level rise of even half a meter would make much of it [the Maldives] uninhabitable; meanwhile, ocean temperature spikes could destroy the coral reefs that protect these islands from the waves.” In his passionate speech to the UN General Assembly (video here) he said that failure to reach a deal in Copenhagen will mean that “our country will not exist.” Wow. Almost unimaginable.
Bill McKibben attempts to put this in perspective for us when he writes: “Take a moment and try to imagine that–your home, your neighborhood, or your city being completely wiped off the map. Imagine your country’s flag being lowered at the UN headquarters because your country quite literally does not exist.”
Fortunately President Nasheed is a devout activist! He is leading a coalition of small island nations to call for bold action by the international community in Copenhagen. This comes from a man that is no stranger to bravery in the face of injustice. He was jailed as a political prisoner for 5 years for his campaign of non-violent civil disobedience calling for democratic reforms. Now he is one of his country’s first democratically elected Presidents and is working to make the Maldives carbon neutral in the next decade.
On Monday, he said (I will paraphrase),
