Copenhagen Climate Conference 2009: Maldives Waiting for Positive Action

Maldives expected some positive steps to be taken towards the reduction of global warming at the ongoing U.N. Climate Conference 2009. However, nothing positive for Maldives has come out from the conference yet. Developed countries like United States have not yet agreed on a dramatic reduction in carbon emissions over the next few decades. US President Barak Obama said that world community should work together to resolve this problem and he is hopeful of passing the US climate change bill in the senate.

However, these are mere assurance for a country like Maldives who could be submerged in next 100 years if global warming continues at the current rate. So, Maldives is still looking for more positive steps from the conference which ends on 18 December.

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International Treaty on Global Climate Change Unlikely in Copenhagen Conference

It seems that the much-awaited agreement on climate change would be happen in the upcoming Copenhagen conference on environment in December. World leaders recent met in Barcelona to discuss about a possible treaty, but the meeting ended without producing any fruitful decision being taken. Leaders of developing nations could not yet reach any agreement over the share of their responsibility of cutting greenhouse car emission.

Maldives, the most endangered country who could be submerged in future if sea water level increased at the current rate, is very much disappointed as there is little hope left on a possibly treaty being agreed in Copenhagen in December. Upon returning from Barcelona, Dr Mohamed Waheed, the vice president of Maldives, has told the local media that there is not much hope on the treaty ahead of Copenhagen conference because there is little possibility of the bill being passed in Congress by December. According to this bill, carbon emission would be reduced by 20 percent by 2020.

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Maldives Government Held a Cabinet Meeting under Indian Ocean to Create Awareness about Global Warming

We know that Maldives is facing a huge threat for its survival in the near future as sea level rise caused by global warming could submerge the country. Many things have been written and said about this issue. Even, global community also raised their voice against global warming, showing their unity with the island country. Recently, Maldives government has taken an unprecedented initiative to create more concern about the issue.

Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed has recently held a special cabinet meeting with eleven of his cabinet ministers under the Indian Ocean. It has been one of the many attempts taken by Maldives government to create awareness among the global community about global warming and the volatile future of the country which is the lowest-lying nation in the world.

Copenhagen Climate Conference 2009 is coming up next and there is no doubt, Maldives government is trying to attract the attention of global community regarding the condition of the country by taking this recent initiative. Now, let us see if the latest attempt can make a significant effect on Maldives battle against global warming.

If you are an ardent football fan, then you could enjoy an article written on tomorrow’s Champions League match between AZ Alkmaar and Arsenal.

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Plight of Migrant Workers in Maldives

(This entry was originally uploaded on May 2009.)

It is a sad news indeed. Well, until now, there have been hardly any complaints against Maldives in this regard. We have read endless tales of sufferings of migrant workers in the Middle East and these days in Malaysia. Now, it seems that Maldives is becoming the next tragic destination in terms of sufferings of workers. Maryam Omidi has written a touching report Minivan News about the condition of foreign workers in Maldives. Some poor and miserable people from other South Asian countries spend a fortune and with the hope of coming to Malaysia sometimes end up in Maldives. Needless to say that they have to suffer a lot in this country.

Even those foreign workers who come with legal documents in the country sometimes suffer a lot of misery. Bad people are everywhere and there are bad people to take advantage from poverty of others. So, some Maldivian companies and individuals are sponsoring workers from other countries to come here and work under them. However, after the workers come then these owners take away the passports and tickets to go back home and thus, the workers become helpless.

Some of these workers are from Bangladesh (my country) and I wish that people do not become desperate and risk their everything to go to another country.

Maldives Football: Win Trophy and Lose Salary of $389?

In South Asia, cricket is the most popular game and football (soccer) is in a distant second position. Well, in Maldives, it is only football and football. The people of this country have little interest about cricket. In fact, Maldives lifted the trophy of South Asian Football Federation championship in 2008. This made everyone very happy in the country except some government officials. So, they felt that the players should get some kind of punishment. Well, I am perhaps being ironic here but it has really happened.

The players of the national team just get $389 of salary each month. For the last few months, they have not received any money from Football Association of Maldives (FAM). In fact, it is now 5 months that they did not get their salary. Football Association of Maldives (FAM) is blaming Ministry of Youth and Sports for this problem. There has been no official word from Ministry of Youth and Sports about it.

I am really deeply shocked and it shows that football in the country is not run professionally. I feel sympathy for the players. Their salary is very small in the first place. I just hope that the government of the country look into this matter very seriously without any delay.

Trans Maldivian Airways Stops Local Flights

Sometimes, I feel very sad for people of South Asia. Most of them are poor and suffer from poverty. Well, many of them even cannot travel outside of their district or province in their whole life let alone a foreign country. Maldives may be the country with the highest per capita income in the region but it seems that the people here have the same condition like their neighbors. Otherwise, why Trans Maldivian Airways has become forced to stop its domestic flights because of lack of passengers.

Well, Maldives is a very small country and it is a combination of several hundred very small islands. So, it is obvious that most people are not keen to travel within the country because then they would have to cross a sea. Still, it shows that they do not have that much money for air travel. The irony is that many foreign tourists come to the country every year and now a days, it has become a fashion for some celebrity couples to come for honeymoon in the country. The only people who will get some happy are perhaps the officials of Island aviation. They will have no competition now in the domestic market. Well, they must also pray that they can get enough passengers.

This entry was first published on March 2009

British Airways Will Cover Maldives Soon

A few days ago, there were some reports in the media that British Airlines (BA) was facing some financial losses. Well, at the time of global economic crisis, it is natural. Now, the company has announced that from October it will operate 3 flights a week to Maldives. It is the first time that BA is going to cover Maldives.

Times Online reported:

The airline says it will fly to both Male in the Maldives and Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt from 25 October on a thrice-weekly basis. It will be the first time that BA has operated services to the Maldives. BA previously served Sharm el Sheikh through its franchise operator GB Airways, which was acquired by easyJet in 2007.

The services will use Boeing 777 aircraft configured with three classes: World Traveller, World Traveller Plus and Club World.

It looks a good business decision to me because Maldives is a popular destination among rich people in England. In the past one year, some high profile celebrity couples came here for honeymoon. So, some people from UK will be able to escape the cold weather home and come to the sunny islands.

Mohamed Nasheed about a Carbon-neutral Maldives in 10 years

I came across an excellent article in BBC written by Mohamed Nasheed. He is the president of the Maldives and in this article, he has discussed about his dream of turning the country in to a carbon-neutral place within one decade. Or in other words, he wants to make his country’s environment clean. This is an ambitious plan and the interesting thing is that it has come from the president of a country that is under threat of extinction because of rising sea level. Some people in the West believe very strongly that global climate is not getting hotter and sea level won’t raise either. Anyway, I am quoting from his writing:

Conventional wisdom dictates that small, developing nations such as the Maldives should refuse to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. This wisdom suggests that we should be lobbying for permits to pollute more, while apportioning blame for climate change squarely on the shoulders of big, industrialised nations.

But I am sceptical of this conventional wisdom, and of finger-pointing at the West, for neither of these policy positions does anything to help solve the climate crisis.

It is nice to see that he is a wise president. I hope that other statesmen could learn something from him. May be President Obama can visit Maldives and get some ideas about clean environment. Of course, Obama is right now very busy with GM bankruptcy problem. President Mohamed Nasheed thinks a lot about the environment and this certainly makes him an exceptional leader.