Shahid calls for joint action to combat climate change

25 September 2007
Report: Soodh


Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Shahid has called upon the international community for joint actions in a timely manner to combat the threat of climate change. Speaking at the UN Secretary General’s High Level Event at New York, Minister Shahid said that with the publication of the fourth IPCC Assessment there is now no doubt that climate change is unequivocal, accelerating, and human induced.

Moreover, he said that it is becoming increasingly clear that climate change is not just an environmental issue nor is it a scientific thesis; it is first and foremost a human issue. It is already adversely impacting individuals around the planet, due to alterations in ecosystems, and increased incidence of natural disasters. These impacts have been observed to be intensifying in frequency and magnitude.

He said that although the impact of climate change is going to be felt first in vulnerable countries such as the Maldives and other low-lying states, it does not end with us. The immediate and far-reaching threats reach into every nation, every community, and every neighbourhood on the planet. Hence, all of us are equally in peril, but if this peril is understood, if our leadership is true, and if we can take joint action in a timely manner, there is hope that we may collectively avert it, said Mr. Shahid.

Further he said that our collective action must involve an integrated and comprehensive approach to the four pillars of climate change policy – mitigation, adaptation, technology transfer and funding.

Continuing his speech, Minister Shahid said that in 1987 President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom brought the testimony of ordinary people threatened by climate change before world leaders for the very first time.

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