Heads of State and Ministers from some of the world’s most climate vulnerable countries agreed to show leadership in the global fight against climate change today, by committing to greening their economies as their contribution towards achieving carbon neutrality.
Meeting in Bandos Island, the Maldives, the eleven countries of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (V11) adopted a groundbreaking declaration in which they called upon all countries to “follow the moral leadership shown by the Republic of Maldives by voluntarily committing to achieving carbon neutrality.”
The declaration further called on countries to “turn their backs on carbon intensive modes of production established in 19th Century Europe.”
The V11 declared that those countries that embrace green economic development would be “the winners of the 21st Century.”
Speaking at a press conference shortly after adopting the declaration, President Mohamed Nasheed, who hosted the summit, said: “We want to show an example to the world by unilaterally adopting green development. We want to show the way by committing to carbon neutrality. We want to argue for climate change action from the moral high ground.”
“Leadership is not about following public opinion but leading it,” Nasheed said.
“We need to prick the conscience of the world,” added President Tong of Kiribati.
Tanzanian Environment Minster Hon. Batlida Burlan said: “We will do something. We will go further by going into carbon neutrality, and invite like-minded countries to do the same.”
Christopher Hacket, the Barbados Special Envoy and Permanent Representative to the UN, said: “We shouldn’t expect others to do what we are not willing to do ourselves. We fully support the need to go green and go for renewables.”
The vulnerable developing countries were meeting in the Maldives on Monday and Tuesday to thrash out a common position ahead of the Copenhagen climate change negotiations in December.
The V11 nations expressed grave concern over reports of a downgrading of expectations for the Copenhagen talks and called on world leaders, including President Obama and the leaders of major emerging economies such as India and China, to personally attend the Copenhagen talks and “redouble their efforts at reaching a binding, ambitious, fair and effective agreement.”
Furthermore, V11 nations underlined the need for financial and technical help from the developed world in order to achieve carbon neutral status. In this regard, they called for an ambitious financial package to be agreed at Copenhagen.
The V11 nations include: Bangladesh, Barbados, Bhutan, Ghana, Kenya, Kiribati, Maldives, Nepal, Rwanda, Tanzania and Vietnam.
The V11 nations agreed to hold a second meeting next year in Kiribati.
(To download the final Declaration of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, click the link below)
