Thu, Mar 10, 2005 page9

• A paradise pleads for help, hears only silence

  • DPA
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  The vacation paradise of the Maldives, with its famous beautiful white sand beaches, crystal-clear water and spectacular sunshine, shows no obvious signs of impending disaster.

  But perhaps no other country in the world will be hit harder by climate change over the next decade. Experts say the very existence of the Maldives -- a chain of islands with about 300,000 inhabitants -- is threatened as it literally sinks over time.

  The country's government has appealed urgently to the international community to provide better environmental protection.

  Officials say targets set by the Kyoto Protocol which took effect on Feb. 16 don't nearly go far enough. So far, though, the government pleas seem to have gone unheard.

  The Dec. 26 tsunami showed residents of the Maldives how vulnerable the country really is: 69 of the 199 inhabited islands were completely flooded. Unlike other tsunami-hit nations, residents of the Maldives could not flee the flood waters to nearby stable land masses. Many were forced to cling to palm trees or save themselves by swimming to safety.

  While climate change is much more gradual than a raging tsunami, experts believe the eventual destruction could bring even more dreadful results than the tidal waves.

  The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates the sea level could rise up to 88cm by 2100.

  "Then almost all islands would be gone," Maldives Deputy Environment Minister Abdullahi Majeed said. "Even half that amount would have a dramatic impact on us."

  About 80 percent of the Maldives sits lower than 1m above the sea level, with the highest elevation reaching just 2.4m.

  "We have no chance to protect the people," Majeed said, and predicts dangerous results for residents of the Maldives.

  "Some will try to save themselves by going from small islands to larger ones," he said. "Others will become environmental refugees."

  These people will be seeking asylum in foreign nations as their own homeland sinks, he said.

  Already, residents on about half of the inhabited islands in the Maldives are trying to prevent further beach erosion.

  "Climate change and projected sea-level rise would aggravate the present problem of beach erosion," the country's First National Communication to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change warns.

  Increasing temperatures are also threatening the coral reefs, which not only protect the islands, but are also a major draw for tourists visiting the Maldives. The coral is very sensitive to temperature changes.

  For years, the Maldives has seen a gradual rise in temperature. The government in Male cannot afford to wait around for an end to the debate over whether or not climate change actually exists.

  "Many people say there is still no conclusive proof that the sea level is truly rising," Majeed said. "But we don't have time -- 20, 30 or 50 years -- to wait for such proof."

  Many Maldives residents might well see injustice in the fact that they don't even contribute much to the greenhouse effect creating climate change. Government statistics show the country is responsible for just 0.0012 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions.

  On the other hand, the eight major industrial countries, the G8, produced 48.7 percent of greenhouse gases in the year 1999. The Kyoto treaty requires signatories to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to at least five percent below 1990 levels by the year 2012.

  The Maldives was the first country to sign the protocol accord and had, along with other small nations, favored much higher targets. Of course they were not able to overcome the powerful delegations from industrialized nations to have stricter goals implemented.

  "Kyoto is good, but far too little," the deputy minister said. "What is 5 percent? Nobody will even notice this."
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