Ministers from those countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change agreed to green their economies as their contribution to achieving carbon neutrality – demonstrating their willingness to combat climate change signalling optimism for a Copenhagen deal that includes developed and developing country action.

 

The 11 members of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (V11) called upon all countries to 'redouble their efforts at reaching a binding, ambitious, fair and effective agreement' in Copenhagen.

 

The group 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'.

 

They called for an ambitious financial package to be agreed at Copenhagen and underlined the need for financial and technical help from the developed world in order to achieve carbon neutral status.

 

They also pledged to commit to greening their economies as their contribution toward cutting emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

 

Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Maldives, which hosted the meeting, 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.'

 

Other delegates echoed the message from the declaration. President Tong of Kiribati said: 'We need to prick the conscience of the world.' Tanzanian Environment Minster 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 Hackett, 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.'

 

Delegates also included foreign and environment ministers from Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Ghana, Kenya, and representatives and Bhutan.

 

 

The low-lying Maldives, a group of 1,200 islands, has become an outspoken voice on global warming, even staging an underwater Cabinet meeting last month to promote awareness about rising sea levels. Four-fifths of its landmass is no more than a metre above sea level and it is feared that rising seas could swamp the Indian Ocean archipelago within a century.

 

The V11 meeting was held to thrash out a common position ahead of the Copenhagen climate change negotiations in December. The V11 nations agreed to hold a second meeting next year in Kiribati.

 

Robin Gwynn, the UK Climate Envoy for Vulnerable Countries, who was blogging from Bandos island, where the meeting took place, wrote that there was a clear recognition that the V11 countries shared a common threat across continents and from different forms of climate impacts. 'This could build into a determination to create a louder voice from such countries in the final month to Copenhagen, and beyond.'

 

Related links

Maldivian government hold underwater cabinet meeting

Robyn Gwynn's blog, Forum expectations  

Robyn Gwynn's blog, day 1

Robyn Gwynn’s blog, day 2

Decleration of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, PDF (35.06KB)