COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Developing nations should set an example for the world ahead of an international conference on climate change by pledging to become carbon neutral, the president of the Maldives said Monday.
President Mohomad Nasheed said if developing countries made such commitments "those opposed to change (would) have nowhere left to hide."
"If those with the least start doing the most, what excuse can the rich have for continuing inaction?" he said.
Nasheed was addressing a two-day meeting in the Maldives on climate change. Officials from Kiribati, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Barbados, Bhutan, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania have gathered there to try to forge a common position ahead of global climate change talks in Copenhagen in December.
The low-lying Maldives has become a leading voice on global warming, even staging an underwater Cabinet meeting last month to promote awareness about rising sea levels. It's feared that rising seas could swamp the Indian Ocean archipelago within a century. Its islands average 7 feet (2.1 meters) above sea level.
Maldives has already pledged to become the world's first carbon neutral nation and last month announced plans to build a wind farm that can supply 40 percent of its electricity. Carbon neutrality refers to achieving an equal balance of the amount of carbon dioxide — the leading greenhouse gas — emitted and the amount sequestered or offset.
Nasheed said Monday that only a few countries are "showing moral leadership on climate change."
"There are plenty of politicians willing to point the finger of blame. But there are few prepared to help solve a crisis that, left unchecked, will consume us all."
