Emotion at the Climate Group
Scotland has officially signed a communique agreeing to work with the Maldives at tackling climate change. A joint statement between President Mohamed Nasheed and the First Minister was signed at the Climate Leaders Summit today and was celebrated in the Opening Commitment Session also attended by Prince Albert of Monaco among others.
It was a thought-provoking and emotional 30 minutes in the Climate Group’s main venue, with Denmark, Israel and Australia all committing to having half their cars running on electricity by 2017 and the President of the Maldives making an impassioned plea for the rest of the world to appreciate his nation’s plight. The islands are fast disappearing under rising sea levels and the prospect is of a culture completely displaced. What would be the consequences for the people and their traditional way of life? “What will happen to our songs?” he asked the enthralled auditorium.
