Robin Gwynn

Climate Vulnerable Countries' Forum

The next opportunity for vulnerable countries to get together to deliver a political message is the Climate Vulnerable Countries' Forum to be hosted by the Maldives on 9 and 10 November. The Maldives conjures up images of a luxury tourist destination of beautiful beaches, reefs and crystal clear water. But because of its physical make-up, like other low-lying island states it is also extremely vulnerable to climate change already, and into the future. And the livelihoods of the Maldives people and others in similar environments are under direct threat: sea level rise causes erosion and contamination of fresh water supplies, and more destructive storm surges; while sea temperature rise kills the corals from which tourism benefits, and disrupts migration routes for the fish on which other business depends

So it's no surprise that President Nasheed of the Maldives has made climate change a top priority. Earlier this year he flagged up the risk that the population of countries like his would have to plan to move elsewhere, raising a complex range of issues. (Some communities in the Pacific are already facing that reality). Recently he convened an underwater Cabinet meeting to draw attention to the sea-level issue, as I commented before (it's amazing the number of people who've mentioned that to me - it really grabbed attention around the world).



The UK supports the convening of this Forum, for reasons I've covered in my previous blogs. We do not see it as an attempt to create a new negotiating bloc at the UN, or to cut across existing processes in any way. But we do see a need for countries around the world, especially the bigger economies, to increase efforts including at the political level to achieve a good outcome at Copenhagen next month. One month before that, a direct reminder of what's at stake for climate vulnerable countries, and how they propose to move forwards themselves, couldn't be better timed.

The participants at the Forum will be a diverse range from climate vulnerable regions, ranging from the roof of the world (Nepal) to those facing threat from the sea (Bangladesh and Vietnam), with representatives from mainland Africa and the Caribbean and Pacific islands too. The Maldives have invited the UK and other countries to attend as observers. UK Ministers have agreed that I should do so, so I will be travelling out there over the weekend. I'll have a camera with me so hope to be able to send back some footage of what is, I think, the first get-together of countries with such a stake in the outcome of Copenhagen.

Posted at 18:32 06 November 2009 by Robin Gwynn  |  Comments[0]