Regional Champion of United National International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) and Philippines Senator Loren Legarda has paid a courtesy call on President Mohamed Nasheed this afternoon.
At the meeting held at the President’s Office, Senator Legarda said that she considered President Nasheed as an icon of democracy. Furthermore, Senator Legarda said she felt she already had an ally in President Nasheed, in the fight against climate change. She hailed the Maldives’ plans to go carbon neutral within the next ten years.
Speaking at the meeting, President Nasheed reiterated his firm belief that climate change is also fundamentally a human rights and a global security issue. He also said that good governance and consolidating democracy should be at the heart of adaptation and mitigation efforts against climate change.
At today’s meeting, discussions were also focused on presenting a unified voice by the small and the most vulnerable states at the Copenhagen Summit.
Further, Senator Legarda said UNISDR was prepared to help the Maldives in formulating plans for disaster management and mitigating adaptation. She also said she was ready to assist the Maldives to develop a legislative framework to deal with issues related to climate change.
The main purpose of Senator Legarda’s current visit was to bring to the attention of global media, the effects of natural disasters and climate change on the Maldives.
