Maldives on Saturday sought the cooperation of India in accessing new technologies and data-gathering to tackle climate change, which threatens to submerge the tiny island.
Citing Maldivian vice president Mohammaed Waheed Hassan, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported that Asian countries should take a lead on seeking innovative and pragmatic solution to complement the implementation of UNFCCC processes in dealing with challenges related to climate change.
“Our President Mohamed Nasheed and his counterpart from Timor-Leste Jose Ramos-Horta had last week met and urged Asian countries to take a lead in tackling climate change.
“They also proposed that the Asian countries should pool in their resources and create a fund on their own without having to wait for developed countries to help us,” he said, delivering a talk on ‘From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Transition to Justice’ here.
Lauding India for cooperating with Maldives on climate change and other issues, Hassan said the island needs India’s help in accessing new technologies and data-gathering to tackle climate change.
“We also need their cooperation in renewable and new energy resources,” he said and listed out the measures being taken by the government of Maldives to tackle global warming.
He also acknowledged that Copenhagen Accord is an important step forward to address the challenges of climate change and said Asian countries should speed up their efforts to tackle the problem.
Appreciating the people of Maldives for ushering in democracy after decades of “autocratic rule”, Dr. Waheed said the government was planning to set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission like the one established in South Africa after the abolition of apartheid.
“We are planning to set up a TRC. Lots of people were abused politically, emotionally and physically during the previous rule. They should get justice,” Dr. Waheed said.
The TRC in South Africa was a quasi-judicial body. Witnesses who were identified as victims of gross human rights violations were invited to give statements about their experiences, and some were selected for public hearings.
