Tag: Copenhagen

Maldives disputes allegations of US “climate bribe” to support Copenhagen Accord

The Maldivian government has hit back at allegations of “climate bribery” in international media this week, disputing claims that it pushed for US$50 million assistance from the US government in exchange for uneqivocally backing the Copenhagen Accord.

A leaked US diplomatic cable detailing an exchange between the Maldives Ambassador to the US, Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed and US Deputy Climate Change Envoy Jonathan Pershing on February 23, 2010, was described as a “diplomatic dance” by the UK’s Guardian newspaper.

“Ghafoor referred to several projects costing approximately US$50m. Pershing encouraged him to provide concrete examples and costs in order to increase the likelihood of bilateral assistance,” the Guardian quoted from the cable.

In response to growing criticism – including several questions on the subject directed at President Mohamed Nasheed during his appearance on BBC Hardtalk, the Maldivian government today released several diplomatic documents it claimed “show that the country pledged its support to the Copenhagen Accord unilaterally and without reservations on 19 December 2009, just hours after the climate change negotiations concluded in the Danish capital.”

In a letter dated December 19, 2009, Dr Shaheed writes to the Executive Secretary for the UN Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC) to “confirm that the Maldives supports and associates itself with the Copenhagen Accord of 18 December 2009.”

In a second letter, dated January 29, 2010, Dr Shaheed again writes to the Executive Secretary stating that “the Maldives’ submission of its mitigation actions is voluntary and unconditional. However we do wish to state, on the record, that the Maldives will be seeking international support for implementation, and that, at such a tie as we do, we are happy for our request to be recorded in the registry and for our mitigation actions to be internationally measured, reported and verified.”

In a statement released yesterday, Dr Shaheed dismissed as “smear” allegations “by some parties” that the Maldives had said it would only sign the Copenhagen Accord in exchange for US$50 million in assistance, and that the release of the letters was “in the interests of full disclosure” to prove that the Maldives supported the Copenhagen Accord on its own merits.

“In fact the Maldives was actively lobbying other parties, including the US, to associate with the Accord. Not the other way around,” Dr Shaheed said. “President Nasheed spent many hours late at night in the final Heads of State meeting which negotiated the Copenhagen Accord, working with other leaders to try to avoid a total collapse of the negotiations and to ensure that the interests of small island and vulnerable countries were protected.

“Having been so intimately involved in negotiating the document, it was natural that the Maldives signed up to the Accord immediately after the Copenhagen negotiations ended.”

The Maldives had led a “diplomatic offensive” to urge other countries to sign the Accord, Dr Shaheed noted. “To suggest, therefore, that the US somehow paid-off the Maldives to support the Accord defies all logic.”

“Some people are trying to spin this non-story into a scandal in order to undermine the progressive voices of small island states such as the Maldives,” he added.

“We are seeking to play a bridging role between rich and poor nations in the interests of getting a deal that will save our countries from a watery grave. But not everyone supports this effort.”

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International conspiracy against climate change action: Frontline

Despite scientific evidence and dire warnings, developed countries are destroying the current controls on global warming, reports Indian magazine Frontline.

‘The “pledge and review” scheme was the handiwork of the U.S., which was against accepting any legally binding commitment on emission reductions,’ writes Frontline’s R. Ramachandran. ‘Acting behind the scenes since mid-2009 and with active help from other developed countries which did not want to commit to a second commitment period such as Australia, Canada, Japan and Russia, the U.S. succeeded in having the scheme formalised as a “political agreement” at Copenhagen.’

Read more

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Maldives seeks to end oil addiction

The Maldives must cure itself of its addiction to oil and develop alternative energy sources from local resources if it is to prosper, Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan said today at a UN roundtable held at Bandos Island Resort.

The occasion was the Maldives signing a commitment to phase out hydro-chlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) emissions by 2020, a decade ahead of other countries, and one that has attracted an assistance grant of US$1.1 million from the UN.

HCFCs (such as chlorodifluoromethane) is used in older refrigeration and air-conditioning units as a replacement for heavily ozone-depleting CFCs, however it also is now considered too harmful.

“It makes sense to move away from HCFCs,” Dr Waheed said. “It is outdated technology and has already been phased out in most western countries, and it is increasingly difficult to repair appliances that use it.”

The move was part of the government’s larger agenda of becoming carbon neutral by reducing reliance on fossil fuels, driven by economic as well as environmental imperatives, the VP explained.

“The Maldives is highly dependent on oil. Our economy totally dependent on imported fuels, but we have absolutely no control over oil prices,” Dr Waheed said. “Our economy is slowly recovering from mismanagement of the past, and an oil price hike now would destabilise our economy. We all know how volatile oil prices are – and the global economic recovery means an increased demand, which is likely to increase prices further.”

Because of the country’s dependency, Dr Waheed explain, “a high oil price means a high cost of doing business. We want to break our dependence on foreign oil using our own natural resources: sun, wind and waves. In the Maldives renewable energy makes sense because imported oil is costly – it is very expensive to ship oil to small islands like the Maldives.”

The Maldives’ oil addiction meant that “today we have one of the world’s highest prices for electricity – 25-30 US cents per kilowatt hour, and there are some reports islands where people are forced to pay 60 cent per kilowatt hour. Schools complain that 25 percent of their budget is spent fueling their diesel generators.”

Addicted

A report published by the UNDP in 2007 on the vulnerability of developing countries to fluctuating oil prices ranked the Maldives dead last, a fair stretch behind Vanuatu, effectively placing the country among the world’s most oil-addicted nations.

“Island countries in general are extremely vulnerable to increased oil prices. They comprise distant and small markets and have to bear the burden of higher shipping costs, while electrical power generation is largely fueled by diesel,” the report noted.

President Mohamed Nasheed said that the Maldives stood perfectly placed to demonstrate to the rest of the world “that a less hazardous development pattern is possible, viable and financially feasible.”

He acknowleged the efforts of the previous government towards that development, noting that the Maldives was able to phase CFCs two years before its mandated deadline.

“I thank the previous government, especially former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, for his singular focus on CFCs, ozone depletion and the environmental issues he raised very early.”

He also acknowledged that even if the Maldives succeeded in demonstrating that a country could be powered by renewable energy and reached its goal of carbon neutrality, “what we do not have major impact health of planet.”

Rather, Nasheed said, the Maldives could prove to other countries that isolated communities could be self-sustaining.

“The window of opportunity this planet has is not so long – science is very certain and we have to act,” he said. “If we don’t, this planet will go on, with new equilibriums and balances that may not be receptive to human habitation – that is what we are trying to overcome.

“We have the technology already – it is a question of how bold we are in implementing it.”

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Maumoon says Copenhagen a failure

Former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has said that the climate summit in Copenhagen was a failure.

According to Miadhu, Gayoom thought the summit was a failure because the outcome was decided when leaders of five countries met and finalised the accord and without passing it at the main summit.

Maumoon also said that the two degree Celsius change in global temperature was not enough to prevent the threat of climate change.

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‘Survival is not negotiable’: youth climate ambassador

The youth climate ambassador to the Maldives is not happy with the Copenhagen accord.

“World leaders should be role models and should have worked harder to reach a legally binding accord,” says 15 year-old Mohamed Axam Maumoon, who returned to the Maldives last week after meeting world leaders at the COP 15, including Danish Prime Minister Lars Loeke Rasmussen.

“I stressed the point about finance,” Axam recalls. “Money should not be considered an important factor when talking about survival, because survival is not negotiable; everyone has a right to live.”

Selected from the international ranks of the youth climate ambassadors, Axam was given the opportunity to ascend the podium and present the Maldives’ case to the world during the early days of the COP15 last week.

“I had given speeches before and I was trying to feel same way as before so I’d be comfortable, blocking out the media and looking at people directly,” he says. “Afterwards, I was thrilled when everyone stood up to clap, and I handed our declaration to the Danish Prime Minister.”

“I hope I moved people in some way by what I had to say about the sad state of the Maldives,” he says. “When people hear these things from children it makes a big difference because it is more emotional – I don’t believe I spoke to enough people.”

Children, he argued at the summit, have “not been considered” in the climate change debate.

“Youth were mentioned once in Kyoto,” he says. “I said: ‘How old are you going to be in 2050? You might not still be here, but it’s your children who are going to suffer because of your actions now.'”

World leaders were unwilling to take political risks regarding the environment, Axam speculates, because the populations they represented were not yet aware enough of the issues at stake.

“Like a CEO accountable to shareholders, a democratically-elected politician has to care what people think of them. But taking risks isn’t fashionable, and people don’t like to sacrifice for the greater good.”

If politicians were accountable to their populace, then one solution was to “create awareness in citizens.”

“When I was interviewing people [in the Maldives] 90% didn’t know what carbon neutrality means,” he says.

“The Maldives has pledged to become carbon neutral in the next 10 years – people need to understand what it means when their energy switches over to wind power.”

As a small nation of only 360,000 people, the Maldives is ideally placed to become “a showcase country” for the rest of the world, Axam argues.

“We can effectively work together in a way we couldn’t if we were four million,” he says.

The youth climate ambassadors can help keep up the momentum, he proposed, by setting up “a chain” of ambassadors across the islands and atolls who could increase people’s awareness of environmental issues and interest in the natural world.

As for his own plans, Axam says he is now reviewing his original plan to become a pilot.

“I was studying physics and science and all of that, but since the issue of climate change has popped into my life I’ve started studying biology and now it’s my favourite subject of all.”

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Copenhagen a victory for the Maldives, says President

The Maldives will benefit from short-term funding for island and developing nations pledged at the The UN’s Climate Change Forum in Copenhagen, President Mohamed Nasheed told a press conference on his return home, even if the accord itself was not as comprehensive as hoped.

Ten per cent of the $30 billion in short-term funding would go towards helping small island nations adapt, he said.

“The talks were a success for the Maldives as funds were pledged for adaptation. We will get the money we need,” Nasheed said, adding that the challenge now was to improve the country’s capacity to undertake such large projects.

“I can say now with confidence that we will provide water, sanitation, electricity and build harbours in all islands. The only question is when can we do it? That depends on how fast we can work,” he said. “God willing, we will not face difficulties with money now.”

In addition, the Maldives’ high profile on the world stage now meant it can go straight to important world leaders, Nasheed said.

“A lot of people were depending on us, so I think if we need something and ask for it, now it will be easier to get it done.”

Nasheed drew praise from many world leaders, including Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, for his sustained negotiations with stubborn countries. Such mediation was necessary, Nasheed explained, due to a “deep mistrust” between developing and developed countries.

Six countries, Bolivia, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Tuvalu opposed the accord.

Nasheed said he talked with the Tuvalu prime minister and the Cuban negotiator and convinced them to sign. “I pleaded with the Nicaraguan president. The Saudis stepped aside when the Americans asked them to…the Venezuelan official refused to speak to me. Just refused to speak at all.”

Others were friendlier. Nasheed was given a lift back to the conference centre by Rudd after a BBC debate, chatted with UK billionaire Richard Branson, and even had to cancel a meeting with former US presidential candidate and environmental advocate Al Gore due to a double-booking. “The World Bank president (Robert Zoellick) called constantly up to the last minute,” Nasheed added.

The cost of the trip was covered by other countries, while the ongoing publicity benefits would be considerable, he added.

“We spend US$1 million on tourism promotion. Even if we had spent billions I’m certain we wouldn’t have got the same degree of coverage as we have over the past two or three weeks across the world on newspapers and TV.”

The accord itself “was a good beginning”, and a far better outcome than failure, he noted.

“If we had been unable to get this, everything would have failed. We were working in an environment of fear that could have caused serious conflicts among nations,” he said. “If no accord had been reached, the status of the UN would have been in jeopardy while some European leaders would have been unable to go back to their people.”

Nasheed said he viewed the final accord as a framework with “many promising features that could become legally binding.”

“A decision will be made on lowering the limit from 2 degrees to 1.5 degrees celsius based on the advice and counsel of the Inter-government Panel on Climate Change in 2015,” he explained.

“The science says the world really has seven years to make a decision. If something is not done in seven years, climate change will go beyond our control or reach a tipping point.”

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Kevin Rudd congratulates President Nasheed

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has commended President Nasheed on his efforts at the recent Copenhagen summit.

Speaking to TVM, Rudd said Nasheed “did a good job” in representing small island nations. He also referred to Nasheed’s statement climate change was not only a Maldivian problem, and that it would affect the whole world.

Australia is a key partner in the development of the Maldives and Rudd promised his country’s help in assisting the Maldives to deal with climate change.

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President to return home today

President Nasheed returns to Male’ today after playing his part in the United Nations Forum for Climate Change held in Copenhagen.

While the president played a pivotal role in the summit, media across the world reported that many countries present at the conference showed little respect for the work done by President Nasheed and other leaders.

The president is will give a press conference later today.

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Tepid response to Copenhagen accord, but a win for the Maldives

The Danish Prime Minister has called Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed “the real hero of Copenhagen” following a marathon 30 hour negotiation session, however global response to the final accord is proving underwhelming.

Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen told a press conference that intense pressure from the Maldives reignited the debate when it threatened to stall. When talks broke down, Nasheed appealed to argumentative nations “to leave pride aside and adopt this accord for the sake of our grandchildren.”

The Maldivian president joined world leaders including Barack Obama (US), Gordon Brown (UK), Nicholas Sarkozy (France) and Angela Merkel (Germany) in drawing up the Copenhagen Accord, which was then adopted by more than 150 countries following fiery debate.

The accord recognises that global temperatures should rise no higher than two degrees Celcius above pre-industrial levels, but does not commit developed countries to legally-binding emission reduction targets.

The flavour of the talks revealed that sovergnity and development remain a higher priority than climate change for many large growing economies. China was particularly irritable on the subject: Prime Minister Wen Jiabao stormed out of the conference after disagreements with the US over international monitoring.

“This was our sovereignty and our national interest [at stake],” said the head of China’s delegation, Xie Zhenhua, before sending a low-ranking protocol officer to resume negotiations with Obama.

China’s revised agreement, which was backed by many large developing nations including Brazil and India, commits to a two degree limit but does not force cuts on any country.

Meanwhile Sudanese delegate Lumumba Di-Aping caused carnage when he stood up and described the final accord as “a solution based on the same very values that piled six million people into furnaces in Europe”.

The most tangible success was an agreement to deliver US$30 billion in short-term funding to developing countries over a three year period, in an effort to help them adapt to climate change and adopt clean energy technologies.

“Small island developing states” were highlighted in the agreement as potential beneficiaries of this money, which included US$10.6 billion pledged by the European Union, US$11 billion from Japan, and US$3.6 billion from the United States.

It appeared there would also be more to come: the accord promised the developing world an annual US$100 billion by 2020 to aid ‘clean’ development, drawn from public and private sources.

“The world stood at the abyss last night but this morning we took a step back,” President Nasheed said, following yesterday’s negotiations.

“The Copenhagen Accord is a long way from perfect. But it is a step in the right direction. We did our best to accommodate all parties, we tried to bridge the wide gulf between different countries, and in the end we were able to reach a compromise,” he said.

However the two degree temperature limit fell short of his expectations: “To save our country from climate change, we need an agreement that limits temperature rises to 1.5 degrees and reduces atmospheric carbon concentrations to 350 parts per million,” Nasheed said.

“While this accord does not deliver these targets there is room within the agreement to migrate toward 1.5 degrees and 350 parts per million, pending scientific assessments.”

Response

Media response to the accord was rather tepid, while some campaigners have called it “a disaster.”

In the UK, the Guardian described the final two page agreement as “vaguely worded, short on detail and not legally binding,” while the Times blasted it as “lukewarm” and “meaningless”.

Al Jazeera reported that the deal had left “only bitterness and anger at the deal done between the US and the world’s emerging economies”, while the Wall Street Journal observed that the final wording of the accord and a lack of formal approval “means countries are left with the choice of associating with the agreement or not.”

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