MALE', MALDIVES, November 14, 2007: Ambassador Camillo M. Gonsalves joined representatives of a number of small island states in the Republic of Maldives for a two-day conference on climate change. In addition to participating in a number of strategic and informational workshops, Ambassador Gonsalves addressed the conference on behalf of St. Vincent and the Grenadines regarding the need for bold action in combating and adapting to climate change.

The conference, organized by the government of the Maldives, was held under the theme "Preparing for Bali and Beyond: The Human Dimension of Global Climate Change." A number of members of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) attended the conference, which was intended to refocus the climate change discussion on people, instead of the arcane scientific language that often characterizes the debate.

The conference participants used the people-centered approach to discuss concrete goals and outcomes for the climate change negotiations to be held in Bali, Indonesia, from December 3-14. In an interactive and wide-ranging discussion, the islands' representatives attempted to forge a consensus on the negotiating strategy and common priorities for Bali.

The conference heard a number of speakers, including Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, whose famous "Death of a Nation" speech before the UN Security Council in 1987 marked the first time that a world leader placed the issue of climate change starkly on international agenda. Also speaking were representatives from AOSIS, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Commission, the Center for International Environment Law, the University of British Columbia, the Diplo Foundation and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, among others.

Ambassador Gonsalves' statement to the conference focused on the ways in which climate change was already affecting the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. He urged the small island states to speak with a "unified voice" at the Bali negotiations, and to emphasize the need for "immediate localized adaptation solutions, in

concert with long-term global mitigation efforts." Ambassador Gonsalves also called for streamlined adaptation funding, and for a reassessment of islands' debt obligations "through the prism of climate change." Ambassador Gonsalves called the fight against climate change "the great cause of our era," and echoed President Gayoom's call to action: ""Let us say enough of expectation and promises - it is time to deliver. Enough of hesitation, it is now time for bold leadership."

The conference decided upon the text of a "Male Declaration on the Human Dimension of Global Climate Change," which urged specific goals at Bali and requested further discussion on the link between climate change and the people it affects. The Maldives conference followed closely on the heels of another climate change event in St. Kitts-Nevis. In addition to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, other CARICOM Member States at the Maldives conference included Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Grenada and Jamaica.

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Read Ambassador Gonsalves' Statement to the Maldives Climate Change Conference