The New Nation - Internet Edition

Nalaka Gunawardene

Democracy and good governance are vital elements in humanity's struggle against climate change, says the leader of the Maldives, one of the world's most vulnerable countries to sea level rise.

"When climate changes, and when you start feeling the actual impacts…you will be wasting all the resources without a proper governance system," cautions President Mohamed Nasheed, the first democratically elected head of state of the Indian Ocean archipelago nation.

He further explains: "Traditionally, we've always thought that adaptation (living with climate change) represents physical structures-revetments, embankments and breakwaters, etc. But we feel that the most important adaptation issue is good governance and, therefore, consolidating democracy is very important for adaptation."

In a short new film released online for the International Day of Climate Action (24 October 2009), President Nasheed calls climate change both a global human rights issue and a security threat to small, low-lying island nations such as the Maldives.

The film, titled Small Islands - Big Impact (6 mins, English), was produced by TVE Asia Pacific (TVEAP) in collaboration with Com+ Alliance of Communicators for Sustainable Development. It is based on an exclusive interview President Nasheed recorded recently with TVEAP's Director Nalaka Gunawardene.

"If you run any of the scenarios of sea level rise, you will…realise that within no time, we would be under water. This is a very real threat to us," President Nasheed says on the film. "We will die if this goes on!"

He adds: "We have a fundamental right for life. If that is challenged, we have to link it to be a human rights issue, and not just an environmental issue."

The film ends with President Nasheed's message to the climate summit in Copenhagen in December: "In a nutshell, I'd like to say what has already been said - Don't be stupid! Going on and on about who did it is not going to save us. This is the time to realise that the deed is done!" He appeals to the world: "So let's see how we may be able to proceed from here. If you have some money, please give it to someone who doesn't have. If you have technology, please give it to someone who doesn't have that technology."

Small Islands - Big Impact was shot on location in the Maldives, the smallest country in Asia by area and population: it packs 325,000 people into a land area just under 300 square kilometres spread over 1,192 islands and islets. Around two hundred are inhabited. With an average ground level of 1.5 metres (5 feet) above sea level, the Maldives is also the lowest country on the planet. As the polar ice melts and sea levels rise, these and other low-lying islands would become gradually submerged. Coastal erosion, salt intrusion and extreme weather events can make some islands uninhabitable sooner.

Climate induced pressures are already affecting fisheries and tourism - the two most important sectors of the Maldivian economy, President Nasheed says.

He adds: "Even now, some islanders are having to move homes from where they lived to elsewhere. There are serious coastal erosion problems. So that's all very real-and it's happening now!"

Since being elected in November 2008, President Mohamed Nasheed has been an outspoken and pragmatic voice speaking on behalf of his and other small island states, grouped under the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). Recently, the global news magazine TIME named him a Hero of the Environment for his climate advocacy.

In March 2009, President Nasheed announced that the Maldives would become the world's first fully carbon-neutral nation within a decade. To accomplish this, they would vigorously pursue renewable energies and green energy sources to replace current dependence on fossil fuels.

Small Islands, Big Impact was filmed by a Maldivian crew comprising Ibrahim Yasir and Hussein Makzoom. It was directed by Nalaka Gunawardene, and edited at TVE Asia Pacific's studios in Sri Lanka.

"I have been covering this story for over 20 years," says Nalaka, who as a young science journalist covered the historic Small States Conference on Sea Level Rise hosted by the Maldives in November 1989. "I hadn't been to the Maldives for a dozen years, and was taken aback by the changes that had taken place in that time."

(Small Islands, Big Impact was produced on an editorially independent basis by TVE Asia Pacific in collaboration with COM+ Alliance of Communicators for Sustainable Development. As with all other TVEAP productions, this series comes without license fees, where only copying and dispatch costs are payable. To order broadcast master tapes, please contact: films@tveap.org)