World Should Overcome Rich and Poor Divide to Move Forward in Climate Change Debate – President Nasheed

In his interview to BBC’s HARDtalk programme, President Mohamed Nasheed said the Maldives was committed to its stance on climate change that it was not an issue or a debate between the rich and poor countries.

Rather, he said this is a debate for everyone, and the world should find a way to move away from the disagreements between developed and developing world.

The President said he believed “this is the only way we can move forward” in this debate.

In this regard, he said a number of countries have accepted this reality and “what we are seeing now is that it is moving along these lines.”

When asked for his opinion on how the United States and China were haggling to find a common ground on the issue, he said:

“I am very disappointed, both with the Americans and Chinese for so irrelevantly talking about this issue as if it is arms control or trade negotiations.”

“You cannot cut a deal with mother nature. You cannot have a negotiation with planetary boundaries. They are fixed. So we all have to understand that we have to live within these planetary boundaries”, he said.

The President said, while developing countries such as China, India, Brazil and South Africa have made progress towards reducing emissions, and Europe has come up with a proper framework for reducing emissions, “the United States really needs to do a lot more.”

“We need to have grass roots action in the US. People need to take this whole thing to the street and let everyone know that here is a serious issue”, the President said.

When asked about the UN climate change conference now underway in Cancún amidst the developed and developing countries split exposed in Copenhagen, he said in Cancún, countries should work to solidly anchor the agreements and understandings from Copenhagen in the UNFCCC processes.

“I think that’s the right way and that’s the path that we should take. And we will hopefully come out with a legally binding agreement in South Africa”, he said.

In the interview dominated by climate change, the President was also asked about the Maldivian economy, political environment and human rights.

The President said, being elected on the back of human rights agenda, his administration was fully committed to protecting and promoting human rights and consolidating democracy.

HARDtalk, hosted by one of BBC’s one of the most respected journalists, Stephen Sackur, interviews newsmakers and personalities from across the globe.