(CU)_The issue of climate change has become a critical challenge to Small Island Developing States, which are identified to be on the ‘front lines’ of climate change. Over the recent years, rising sea levels caused by global warming has begun to threaten the very existence of several island nations including the Maldives, an archipelagic state in the Indian Ocean.
In early-June this year, the country’s Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid was appointed as the President of Seventy-Sixth General Assembly of the United Nations. Since his appointment as the Foreign Minister of Maldives, he has been an advocated for a rights-based approach to climate change, drawing attention to the direct and indirect effects of climate change on the enjoyment of a wide range of human rights.
The Minister is expected to travel to Glasgow this weekend for the UN climate conference, and speaking ahead of the long-awaited summit, the UN envoy warned that a “final brave decision” is needed in order to “save humanity” from the ongoing crisis. “My message is very short, that we are not only on the wrong track. But we are on the edge of the cliff,” he told The Press Trust of India (PTI) during an interview.
“…we will be able to come out with a much firmer commitment than we have now on the 1.5 degrees,” Shahid added. “My hope is that the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) will be much more firm and ambitious than they already are. And my hope is that from Glasgow all the leaders collectively will give a message of hope, that ‘Yes, we will save humanity’.”
Earlier this week, the UNGA President chaired a High-Level meeting on ‘Delivering Climate Action for People, Planet and Prosperity’, with the aim of building up momentum on the journey to Glasgow. He noted that the discussion was critical to highlight the fact that while we have the required science, technology and resource to tackle the climate crisis, what we are lacking is commitment.
“And I am hopeful. I want people, leaders travelling to Glasgow to go there not to disappoint humanity, but to go there with rays of hope from all their countries so that humanity will have the confidence coming out of Glasgow,” he said.
