The Maldives, which fears being swamped by rising seas as the planet heats up, says major economies should toughen their curbs of greenhouse gas emissions blamed for causing global warming. The chain of low-lying sandy islands in the Indian Ocean, famed for its diving and luxury resorts, has launched a plan to become carbon neutral by 2020 with the help of renewable energy such as wind and solar that it hopes will attract foreign funds. Following are answers to questions put to President Mohamed Nasheed in an e-mail interview. Nasheed was among the most outspoken leaders at December's UN climate talks in Copenhagen, calling for swift action to fight global warming. Can the Maldives be saved? “My country is in peril but I don't accept that we are doomed. If the world unites against carbon pollution and embraces green development, we can bring the climate crisis under control. “By the end of this century, the very worst-case sea level rise predicted by scientists is two metres. And that's if all our efforts fail. If we handle the situation better, it will be less than a metre. “We can adapt to some of this change, even if parts or whole islands have to be evacuated. Every country stands to lose if we don't curb carbon pollution. So, in a sense, we are all Maldivians.” What will it cost to become carbon-neutral? One estimate is $1.1 billion for the country's 310,000 people “No-one said this would be cheap or easy. It already costs us a great deal to import oil, which is used to generate all our electricity – $300,000 per day, with oil at $50 a barrel. If oil prices rise over $100 a barrel, the carbon- neutral plan will save us money because we will no longer have to burn money on oil. “We are incentivizing the private sector to make many of the necessary infrastructure investments. For private companies, investing in renewable energy, waste-to-energy plants or energy-efficiency schemes will generate healthy returns over decades.” “But wind and solar are intermittent by definition. So backup is essential – and this is a big challenge. If we go for biomass then it must be from truly sustainable sources. If in the worst-case, our existing diesel generators are used as back-up, then we would have to offset the pollution they cause.” How much are tourists willing to pay as an extra tax? “We do not currently have any plans for a green tourist tax. If we can demonstrate that achieving carbon-neutrality is not only possible, but also profitable, I think bigger countries will follow suit and we can make real progress on curbing global carbon pollution.” Do you think the Copenhagen accord will eventually become the basis of a new legally-binding climate treaty? “It's too early to say, but clearly the signs are not good on the legally-binding aspect. In any case, we should get a treaty right before making it legally-binding. Kyoto was legally-binding, but it did very little to reduce emissions, and actually made some problems worse with all its complexities and its rigid divisions between developed and developing countries. “The Maldives made huge efforts at Copenhagen to salvage the best deal possible. I felt that a total collapse would have been the worst outcome. In the event we got an Accord which is far from perfect but is something we can build on.” What are your hopes for the next major un climate conference in Mexico in November? “My great fear is that an ambitious and binding climate deal is endlessly postponed and climate talks start to resemble trade negotiations – endless rounds of talks with little progress to show for it at the end. “At Bali, everyone looked forward to Copenhagen. Now after Copenhagen everyone is looking forward to Mexico. We have to stop fooling ourselves that action can wait until tomorrow.”
