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Media and Climate Change Speech Delivered by Ali Khalid, Chief Executive Officer, Television Maldives

34th ANNUAL GATHERING AND THE 7TH AIBD GENERAL CONFERENCE & ASSOCIATED MEETINGS
21-24 July 2008, Bali, Indonesia

Scene 1
The magnificence of nature slowly unfolds before your eyes.

Sunshine embracing the green little patches enclosed by pure white and surrounded by glistening blues. Viewed from above, the scene takes your breath away. A vision so unique, you cant help wonder if its real. Only nature could have created such splendor as the Maldives Ive just given you a postcard description of my beautiful country. A tropical hideaway; home to about three hundred thousand natives and one thousand three hundred and fifty different species of coral and fish. This is the picture perfect image; the sunny side of life the world loves to hear about. Scene 2 The silence of the night is shattered by piercing screams of terror and despair, as the ocean once again unleashed its fury, and waves ripped though the island of Maduvvari in Raa Atoll, washing into the homes of the island people; a grim reminder of the devastating Tsunami of 2004 and a
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warning that climate change is indeed a clear and present danger. As I speak, this small fishing community of less than two thousand people live in fear because a large part of their island remain submerged, as a result of severe beach erosion. I have some footage with me, from the island of Maduvvari, which Id like to share with you now. This is the flip side of the postcard, the not so sunny side of life that the world would rather not talk about. To give a clear picture, let me briefly describe the geography of my country. The 1,192 tropical islands that make up the Maldives are geographically arranged in twenty six natural groups called atolls. The islands are among the lowest lying in the world, with three quarters of the land area of the islands rising no higher than one and a half meters above sea level, with the highest natural point of just 6 meters.

The

beauty

and

serenity

of

our

islands

mask

the

vulnerability and fragility of our country. Over the years climate change has become a daily reality for the Maldivian people. In 1987, unprecedented waves caused widespread

destruction in the country. The 2004 Tsunami took 108 innocent lives, seven percent of the population were internally displaced and thirteen islands were reduced to mere rubble. Last year, the Maldives experienced tidal surges on nearly 80 islands. Never in our documented history has so many islands been simultaneously flooded over and to such an extent. Over the last 6 years more than 90 islands have been flooded at least once and 37 islands have been inundated regularly. Over half of our islands are eroding at an alarming rate, previously never witnessed. In some cases, island communities have had to be relocated to safer islands.

More frequent El Ninos pose immense risk to the health of our network of coral reef. Some varieties of fish in our waters are dying, in their hundreds and thousands, of a mysterious cause. Stormy weather is now more frequent and intense and our fresh water lenses are now being polluted with salty water. All around us are disturbing signs that, slowly but surely the seas are encroaching and engulfing our tiny archipelago For more than twenty years the Maldives has championed the cause of fighting climate change. We were the first to raise the issue of climate change before world leaders at the UN in 1987. We have taken our plea for help community. Weve worked hard to raise global awareness on the plight of ordinary people threatened by climate change. When the Kyoto Protocol was finalized in 1997, the Maldives was the first country to sign and among the first to ratify it. We practice eco-tourism, and dolphin friendly and sustainable fishery of tuna. The contribution of the Maldives to global greenhouse gas emissions is negligible at less than 0.01 percent. before the global

Yet the irony is that Maldives is among the first victims of global warming. The 300,000 people of the Maldives may be among the first to suffer from the ill effects of climate change, but eventually every country will have to face the problem. The impact of climate change will be felt in every nation, every community, and every neighborhood turning over 200 million people into refugees. The hope of injecting urgency into international efforts to find an effective solution to this impending global environment catastrophe, made headway last year. During the Conference Change; in Bali Climate Change Conference, the EU Climate Change led to and the Male the Maldives which

Development Days in Lisbon and the

Declaration on the Human Dimension of Global Climate world leaders, policy makers scientists, negotiated processes, forged alliances, formulated roadmaps and set long term targets to stabilize the climate system.

So far, work done related to climate change and global warming is mainly confined to research, conferences, seminars and workshops. The general population has very little knowledge about the burning issues. Though the importance of the issue is widely accepted, neither the general causes and effects of global warming, nor the details of the issue are yet widely understood. The Tsunami caught world headlines, and the media covers hurricanes droughts and flooding, but the stories do not often make a link to climate change. The fact also remains that the media is often silent about sea swells, tidal surges, beach erosion, inundation and other impending dangers of sea level rise. Maybe compared to other extreme weather events, they do not have enough dramatic impact to attract media attention, or maybe journalists lack access to quality information on the subject. Id like to note here the constructive work being done by the film media, to raise awareness on global warming in various parts of the world.

The film, "An Inconvenient Truth", an Academy Awardwinning documentary film about climate change, specifically global warming, presented by former United States Vice President Al Gore. Other films include, "In Hot Water" which examines the issue of global climate changes and how it relates to the oceans. "Cooperating for Clean Air" is about Sweden's all-out assault on acid rain and global warming. "Once and Future Planet" is an interesting and easy to understand explanation of what causes global warming. "The 11 th Hour" is a documentary concerning the

environmental crises caused by human actions and their impact on the planet And The Day After Tomorrow" is a science fiction film that depicts catastrophic effects of global warming and boasts high-end special effects, bending the lines between science, reality and science fiction.

It is becoming increasingly clear that climate change is not an environmental problem, nor is it a scientific theory; it is first and foremost a human issue, impacting people around the planet. There should be a deliberate effort on the part of the media to present people-centered climate change stories to make the issues real to the public and build understanding of the need to be involved in the debate. As shapers of public opinion, the onus is now on us; the print, electronic and internet media, to educate and inform our audiences on the threats posed by climate change, to build impetus to turn the tide of public opinion, and to spark a global scale discussion on mitigation. I thank Dr. Javad Mottaghi, the Director of AIBD, for inviting me to be here and share my thoughts on a subject which is very close to the heart of every Maldivian. Mr. Chairman, distinguished delegates ladies and gentleman.

I see my time has run out. Time is also running out for the people of the Maldives. Thank you.
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