Maldives lobbies Bush on Kyoto

Maldives' sea levels are dangerously rising as a result of global warming

MALE, Maldives -- The resort island nation of the Maldives has appealed to the United States to ratify an international agreement to reduce the rate of global warming.

Temperature increases from global warming would raise sea levels, leaving the popular tourist destination under water, officials said.

Eighty percent of the 1,200 islands comprising the Indian Ocean nation are only one metre above sea level.

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The Kyoto agreement, which would require industrialised countries to cut carbon dioxide emissions by an average of 5.2 percent from 1990 levels by 2012, was rejected by Washington.

Maldives Minister of Environment Ismail Shafeeu said: "We have to strive to point out the problems that are associated with climate change, and the responsibility we feel lies with countries such as the U.S., particularly the U.S. as a global leader.

"We would like to see the U.S. take a more constructive approach to these problems than the one they are presently taking."

As the world's top carbon dioxide producer, U.S. compliance with the environmental pact is vital, Shafeeu said.

If the U.S. does not sign the treaty, it is likely that other countries will mimic the U.S. decision, leading to the overall collapse of Kyoto, and leaving the Maldives to a disastrous future, he said.

U.S. President George W. Bush said in March he would not support an agreement that harmed the U.S. economy, inviting criticism from governments and green activists around the world.

"The government of the United States has this sense that it's surrounded by a lot of countries trying to destroy its economy, but I don't think any country is asking of the United States something that they have not offered to do themselves," Shafeeu said.

He said that the economic impact on the Western European countries who have signed Kyoto would be no less than that on the U.S.

In order for the bill to be enforced, it first must be approved by 55 countries, or by countries accounting for 55 percent of the 1990 greenhouse gas emissions.

Michael Zammit Cutajar, the Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, told a news conference last week that if other nations moved towards ratification at a negotiating session in Bonn on July 16, the door could be left open for the U.S. to join later.

Japan, which has sent out mixed signals of its intentions, was now pivotal to the future of the agreement which aims to cut five percent off 1990 greenhouse gas emission levels by 2012, Reuters quoted Cutajar saying.

The loss of America, responsible for around 25 percent of the world's pollution, placed a severe strain on reaching the targets.

Cutajar urged other nations to press ahead and leave Washington to join in 2013 when the next phase of the programme was due to come into force.

"It is not ideal but it is the second best option (to the U.S. joining from the start)," Reuters quoted him saying.

The European Union has come out strongly behind the agreement while the heavily-industrialised Japan has veered more towards compromise.