Climate Change Impacts: India and Maldives

Looks like we still have time, or do we?

On 17th October 2009, the President of the island nation of Maldives called for the world’s first ever underwater Cabinet Meeting. In the meeting, the President, Vice President, and the entire cabinet of Maldives signed a declaration calling for concerted global action on climate change, ahead of the UN climate conference (COP) in Copenhagen.

And even as the world prepares for this grand climate meet, a large part of South India went under water only a few weeks back. And while talks have already begun on coming up with an equitable deal and the very fear that there may be none, over 300 people lost their lives while millions have been displaced and missing in that global warming related freak weather event, predicted well in advance by the IPCC in its Fourth Assessment Report in 2007.

The Earth will never come to the negotiating table and the earth will never die. Humans will and thus the need to understand that very strong emissions reductions of the magnitude emitted by leading Northern countries is not just the only way but also not-negotiable.

Image Source: Telegraph and PresidencyMaldives