Media and ClimateChange

8/2/2019 Media and ClimateChange

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Media and Climate Change

Speech Delivered by Ali Khalid, Chief Executive

Officer, Television Maldives

3 4 t h ANNUAL GATHERI NG AND THE 7TH

AI BD GENERAL CONFERENCE &

ASSOCI ATED MEETI NGS

21-24 July 2008, Bali, Indonesia

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Scene 1

The magnificence of nature slowly unfolds before your eyes.

Sunshine embracing the green little patches enclosed by

pure white and surrounded by glistening blues.

Viewed from above, the scene takes your breath away.

A vision so unique, you cant help wonder if its real.

Only nature could have created such splendor as the

Maldives

Ive just given you a postcard description of my beautiful

country.

A tropical hideaway; home to about three hundred thousand

natives and one thousand three hundred and fifty different

species of coral and fish.

This is the picture perfect image; the sunny side of life the

world loves to hear about.

Scene 2

The silence of the night is shattered by piercing screams ofterror and despair, as the ocean once again unleashed its

fury, and waves ripped though the island of Maduvvari in

Raa Atoll, washing into the homes of the island people; a

grim reminder of the devastating Tsunami of 2004 and a

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warning that climate change is indeed a clear and present

danger.

As I speak, this small fishing community of less than two

thousand people live in fear because a large part of their

island remain submerged, as a result of severe beach

erosion.

I have some footage with me, from the island of Maduvvari,

which Id like to share with you now.

This is the flip side of the postcard, the not so sunny side of

life that the world would rather not talk about.

To give a clear picture, let me briefly describe the geography

of my country.

The 1,192 tropical islands that make up the Maldives are

geographically arranged in twenty six natural groups called

atolls.

The islands are among the lowest lying in the world, with

three quarters of the land area of the islands rising no

higher than one and a half meters above sea level, with the

highest natural point of just 6 meters.

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The beauty and serenity of our islands mask the

vulnerability and fragility of our country.

Over the years climate change has become a daily reality for

the Maldivian people.

In 1987, unprecedented waves caused widespread

destruction in the country.

The 2004 Tsunami took 108 innocent lives, seven percent of

the population were internally displaced and thirteen islands

were reduced to mere rubble.

Last year, the Maldives experienced tidal surges on nearly

80 islands. Never in our documented history has so many

islands been simultaneously flooded over and to such an

extent.

Over the last 6 years more than 90 islands have been

flooded at least once and 37 islands have been inundated

regularly.

Over half of our islands are eroding at an alarming rate,

previously never witnessed. In some cases, island

communities have had to be relocated to safer islands.

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More frequent El Ninos pose immense risk to the health of

our network of coral reef.

Some varieties of fish in our waters are dying, in their

hundreds and thousands, of a mysterious cause.

Stormy weather is now more frequent and intense and our

fresh water lenses are now being polluted with salty water.

All around us are disturbing signs that, slowly but surely the

seas are encroaching and engulfing our tiny archipelago

For more than twenty years the Maldives has championed

the cause of fighting climate change.

We were the first to raise the issue of climate change before

world leaders at the UN in 1987.

We have taken our plea for help before the global

community.

Weve worked hard to raise global awareness on the plight

of ordinary people threatened by climate change.

When the Kyoto Protocol was finalized in 1997, the Maldives

was the first country to sign and among the first to ratify it.

We practice eco-tourism, and dolphin friendly and

sustainable fishery of tuna.

The contribution of the Maldives to global greenhouse gas

emissions is negligible at less than 0.01 percent.

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Yet the irony is that Maldives is among the first victims of

global warming.

The 300,000 people of the Maldives may be among the first

to suffer from the ill effects of climate change, but

eventually every country will have to face the problem.

The impact of climate change will be felt in every nation,

every community, and every neighborhood turning over 200

million people into refugees.

The hope of injecting urgency into international efforts to

find an effective solution to this impending global

environment catastrophe, made headway last year.

During the Bali Climate Change Conference, the EU

Development Days in Lisbon and the Climate Change

Conference in the Maldives which led to the Male

Declaration on the Human Dimension of Global Climate

Change; world leaders, policy makers and scientists,

negotiated processes, forged alliances, formulated roadmaps

and set long term targets to stabilize the climate system.

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So far, work done related to climate change and global

warming is mainly confined to research, conferences,

seminars and workshops.

The general population has very little knowledge about the

burning issues.

Though the importance of the issue is widely accepted,

neither the general causes and effects of global warming,

nor the details of the issue are yet widely understood.

The Tsunami caught world headlines, and the media covers

hurricanes droughts and flooding, but the stories do not

often make a link to climate change.

The fact also remains that the media is often silent about

sea swells, tidal surges, beach erosion, inundation and other

impending dangers of sea level rise.

Maybe compared to other extreme weather events, they do

not have enough dramatic impact to attract media attention,

or maybe journalists lack access to quality information on

the subject.

Id like to note here the constructive work being done by the

film media, to raise awareness on global warming in various

parts of the world.

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The film, "An Inconvenient Truth", an Academy Award-

winning documentary film about climate change, specifically

global warming, presented by former United States Vice

President Al Gore.

Other films include, "In Hot Water" which examines the

issue of global climate changes and how it relates to the

oceans.

"Cooperating for Clean Air" is about Sweden's all-out assault

on acid rain and global warming.

"Once and Future Planet" is an interesting and easy to

understand explanation of what causes global warming.

"The 11 th Hour" is a documentary concerning the

environmental crises caused by human actions and their

impact on the planet

And The Day After Tomorrow" is a science fiction film that

depicts catastrophic effects of global warming and boasts

high-end special effects, bending the lines between science,

reality and science fiction.

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It is becoming increasingly clear that climate change is not

an environmental problem, nor is it a scientific theory; it is

first and foremost a human issue, impacting people around

the planet.

There should be a deliberate effort on the part of the media

to present people-centered climate change stories to make

the issues real to the public and build understanding of the

need to be involved in the debate.

As shapers of public opinion, the onus is now on us; the

print, electronic and internet media, to educate and inform

our audiences on the threats posed by climate change, to

build impetus to turn the tide of public opinion, and to spark

a global scale discussion on mitigation.

I thank Dr. Javad Mottaghi, the Director of AIBD, for inviting

me to be here and share my thoughts on a subject which is

very close to the heart of every Maldivian.

Mr. Chairman, distinguished delegates ladies and gentleman.

I see my time has run out. Time is also running out for the

people of the Maldives.

Thank you.

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