The High Commission of the Maldives in the United Kingdom and the National Centre for the Arts (NCA) of the Maldives supported Bluepeace in taking ‘Vulnerable’ to Wales.

Maldivian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Dr Farahanaz Faizal, accompanied by her staff, participated at the launch of the Hay Maldives event on June 3. The launch was marked with traditional Bodu Beru music, cultural games, Maldivian cuisine and a coconut scraping competition.

By taking the exhibit to the Hay Festival, Bluepeace aims to highlight the vulnerability of the Maldives to climate change and how a culture that has been preserved for centuries could be lost because of global warming and rising seas. The Hay Festival, which attracts poets, writers, artists and musicians, is the perfect gathering to deliver the message that more action is needed to battle climate change on a global level.

President Mohamed Nasheed told an audience at Hay Festival through a video link on 29 May that a huge campaign of direct street action was needed to change the climate change debate in the United States. Nasheed said it was the US which was the biggest obstacle to a global treaty on reducing carbon emissions, and not China and India.

“What we really need is a huge social 60s-style catalystic, dynamic street action. If the people in the US wish to change, it can happen. In the 60s and 70s, they’ve done that,” Nasheed said, referring to the anti-war activism of the 60s and 70s.

While the Maldives is calling for increased global activism to reduce carbon emissions, it has also started promoting cultural tourism in a bid to open the white sandy beaches to different types of travellers. The High Commission of the Maldives in the UK and the Hay Festival is brining the festival to the Maldives from 14 to 17 October 2010.

“The Festival project seeks to celebrate the cultural riches of the archipelago civilisation and to investigate what is special and unique about island life and mindset and to place that in context with the opportunities and challenges faced through climatic change,” Hay Festival said on its website.

“The Festival will provide a platform for focusing international attention on the Maldives, bringing together a selection of the best international and local artists from the fields of literature, art, science, drama, music, poetry and comedy. The Festival will also provide an opportunity for Maldivians to celebrate their own intrinsic, artistic culture,” Hay Festival said.

Wales is the third country where Bluepeace exhibited ‘Vulnerable’, a collection of amazing photos from talented Maldivian photographers. In December 2009, Bluepeace took the exhibit to Klimaforum09, the people’s climate summit held in Copenhagen, Denmark, coinciding with the COP15 conference. In April 2010 Bluepeace displayed a collection of photos from ‘Vulnerable’ at a symposium on Maldives titled Exploring the Contours of Democracy in the Maldives at New Delhi, India. In April the same collection was on display at a popular café in Delhi as well.

Bluepeace launched the exhibition online on October 24, 2009, the International Day of Climate Action. The exhibition was planned to be launched in Republican Square in Male’, Maldives, on October 24. However, Bluepeace was forced to cancel the physical exhibition scheduled for October 24, when Male’ Municipality backtracked on its offer of the Republican Square for the event.

Dr Vandana Shiva addressing an event organised by IYCN to mark Earth Day 2010

Bluepeace joined the Earth Day celebrations organized by IYCN in New Delhi, by making a presentation on the vulnerability of the Maldives to climate change and highlighting possible adaptation measures the country could introduce. In addition, Bluepeace emphasized the importance of protecting the coral reefs and coastal vegetation to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change. Bluepeace also noted the significance of India in combating climate change as India is an emerging global economic power and how India stands to gain by transforming into a green economy. A digital version of Bluepeace’s photo exhibition Vulnerable was presented at the event as well.

IYCN’s Earth Day event also included the screening of the documentary Eco Dharma, which showcases the Bishnois community in Rajasthan, which holds the belief that they should sacrifice their lives for protection of animals, trees and the natural environment.

Bluepeace’s recent activities in the Indian capital includes participating in a symposium on the Maldives, hosted by Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP) held from the 14th-15th of April 2010. Two representatives from Bluepeace participated in the conference titled Exploring the Contours of Democracy in the Maldives. Key figures from the Maldivian government, media and civil society were joined by influential politicians, academics, journalists and activists from India. The symposium provided a platform for Maldivians to share their concerns about the emerging democracy in the country. Lessons learned from the Indian democratic experience, and the outcomes of the environment and economic policies over the past 50 or so years in India were also shared.

Issues of concern raised from the Maldives include climate change, distribution of Tsunami aid, decentralization, human rights, security and religious extremism. At the conference, Bluepeace highlighted the threats to Maldives arising from climate change. A selection of photos from the Vulnerable exhibition was exhibited at the WISCOMP symposium while a digital version of the whole exhibition was presented.

The collection of 17 photos from the Vulnerable exhibition – a photo by each of the 17 photographers who participated in the exhibition – is now on display at Intermezzo Café & Restaurant in Defence Colony, New Delhi.

IYCN, which is assisting Bluepeace in promoting the Vulnerable exhibition in New Delhi, is a youth-driven organisation working on various projects across India. For example, IYCN, in association with Loop Solutions, is launching a project to turn the 500 kg of daily food waste generated in Khan Market of New Delhi into compost. The project will also involve encouraging students to build their own gardens and supporting community members to grow herbs needed for the restaurants in Khan Market.

Coinciding with the Earth Day, IYCN also held a fund-raising event at The Living Room Cafe at Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi. Music bands which performed at the event included Manzil, which consisted of former street children who learned music.

By collaborating with organisations such as IYCN, Bluepeace hopes to create a common vision for combating climate change in South Asia and increase the cooperation and participation of the youth in the global south in mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change.

This means world leaders did not agree to limit the global CO2 emissions to 350 parts per million. The Maldives, which hosted a number of events coinciding with the International Day of Climate Action on October 24, including a headline-grabbing underwater cabinet meeting, has gained nothing to celebrate from COP15.

350.org, which has been pivotal in building a global movement around the number 350 and the science behind it, reflects on the failure of COP15:

You’ll likely hear the Copenhagen drama spun in a thousand different ways, but here’s our honest take on the outcome: our leaders have been a disappointment, and the talks have ended without any kind of fair, ambitious, or legally binding global agreement. It’s unclear whether the weak “accord” which emerged early this morning will provide a platform strong enough to deliver the kind of action we’ll need in 2010 and beyond.

TckTckTck, the campaign initiated by several international organisations and which has mobilised unprecedented numbers of people behind a new global climate movement, writes on the failure of COP15:

Despite overwhelming scientific evidence, and massive popular support from citizens in countries North and South, world leaders chose national political self-interest over the fate of future generations and failed to resolve the issues blocking the road towards a just outcome.

Kumi Naidoo, executive director of Greenpeace International, expresses disappointment over how COP15 ended in an anti-climax:

Not fair, not ambitious and not legally binding. The job of world leaders is not done. Today they failed to avert catastrophic climate change.

The city of Copenhagen is a climate crime scene tonight, with the guilty men and women fleeing to the airport in shame. World leaders had a once in a generation chance to change the world for good, to avert catastrophic climate change. In the end they produced a poor deal full of loopholes big enough to fly Air Force One through.

We have seen a year of crises, but today it is clear that the biggest one facing humanity is a leadership crisis.

The only refreshing thing to emerge is a new global movement of citizens, spread across the globe. Avaaz.org, which is a partner organisation of TckTckTck campaign and has mobilised thousands of people through Internet, stresses the significance of this new movement and the hope it symbolises:

In Copenhagen, leaders didn’t make history—but the world’s people did. A year of unprecedented action on climate change reached unimagined heights in the last two weeks: thousands upon thousands of vigils, rallies, and protests; floods of phone calls and messages sent; millions of petition signatures—all calling for the fair, ambitious, and binding climate treaty we still need and still will win.

A day earlier President Nasheed visited Klimaforum09 for a Talk along with Bill McKibben, the founder of 350.org. McKibben explained the science behind the number 350 and its significance in the climate change debate and stressed the significance of building a global movement to combat climate change.

“My message to you is to continue the protests. Continue after Copenhagen. Continue despite the odds. And eventually, together, we will reached that crucial number: Three-five-oh,” Nasheed said addressing environmental justice activists and members of civil society organisations representing various countries, gathered at Klimaforum09.

“My message to you is to continue the protests. Continue after Copenhagen. Continue despite the odds. And eventually, together, we will reached that crucial number: Three-five-oh,” Nasheed said addressing environmental justice activists and members of civil society organisations representing various countries, gathered at the alternate climate summit Klimaforum09.

VULNERABLE, Bluepeace’s photo exhibition on climate change depicting the vulnerability of the Maldives, is also hosted by Klimaforum09.

Outside the venue of Klimaforum09, the Peoples’ Climate Summit which is being held in parallel to the COP15, a young man named Koen from Brussels stood with his bicycle. Koen told Bluepeace about he and his friends’ journey in a go-cart from Belgium to Copenhagen.

From the coast of Belgium the group reached Lubeck in Germany. From there they made a boat journey to Malmö in Sweden, and travelled on land again to Copenhagen. Koen told us they were promoting zero carbon transport. They have a facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=176272729479

Koen said when they were going from town to town in the go-cart it drew the attention of the people who stopped by to strike a conversation. Koen and his friends are hoping for a new global treaty to be crafted in Copenhagen to reduce carbon emissions.

We could not talk for long because Koen was already uncomfortable from the cold winter of Copenhagen. It was a bit windy as well, and indeed coming from the equator, it was not a favourable weather for us either. It was wiser to go back inside, where the Klimaforum09 was attracting hundreds of people who were attending various events occurring simultaneously including debates, lectures and exhibitions. Vulnerable, the exhibition on climate change, organized by Bluepeace, is receiving a very warm welcome.

Klimaforum09 opened on 7 December. Guest speakers will include Bill McKibben of 350.org. Naomi Klein gave a speech during the opening ceremony and was a panelist on 10 December in a session on ecological debt and climate justice.

The photo exhibition Vulnerable, organized by Bluepeace, and showcasing photographs of talented Maldivian photographers, is being hosted by Klimaforum09, the Peoples’ Climate Summit. The exhibition shows the face of climate change in the Maldives and documents the vulnerability of the fragile coral islands of the Maldives to climate change and sea level rise. The exhibition depicts a nation under threat, as it tries to safeguard an age-old culture and lifestyle that could be erased with rising seas and climate change.

Klimaforum09, is an alternate climate summit being held at DGI-Byen, Copenhagen, and is dubbed as the People’s Climate Summit. Thousands of activists, NGO members and environmental justice movements are participating in the Klimaforum09, while in the Bella Center, the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (Cop15) is being held.

Bluepeace is excited by the prospect of attracting thousands of visitors to the exhibition Vulnerable. We believe that by having this exhibition featured at Klimaforum09, in the beautiful city of Copenhagen, in this significant moment in history, we are able to alert important stakeholders of the plight of vulnerable countries such as the Maldives to the impacts of climate change.

VULNERABLE is a photo exhibition organised by Bluepeace, the first environmental organisation formed in the Maldives. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Bluepeace, and to join the global environmental movement bringing attention to the dangers of climate change in the run up to United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP15), Bluepeace presents VULNERABLE, which showcases the face of climate change in the Maldives. The exhibition documents the vulnerability of the fragile coral islands of the Maldives to climate change, through pictures from talented Maldivian photographers. It depicts a nation under threat, as it tries to safeguard an age-old culture and lifestyle that could be erased with rising seas and climate change.

VULNERABLE was launched online on October 24, the International Day of Climate Action organised by 350.org, which calls for a reduction of global carbon emissions below 350 parts per million. The exhibition was planned to be launched in Republican Square in Male’, Maldives, on October 24. However, we were forced to cancel the physical exhibition scheduled for October 24, when Male’ Municipality backtracked on its offer of the Republican Square for the event. The exhibition is hosted online at http://www.bluepeacemaldives.org/vulnerable

In the coming weeks and months the exhibition will move to different locations in the Maldives and other countries, including the beautiful city of Copenhagen in December where it will be hosted by Klimaforum09, an alternate climate summit with participation from global environmental movements and civil society organisations.

VULNERABLE is the result of dedicated input from Bluepeace volunteers and well-wishers as the organisation celebrates 20 years of protecting the environment. Bluepeace is particularly grateful to Ms Aylie Baker, a graduate student from the United States, travelling around the world to island nations, researching and documenting sustainability issues facing the islands. We appreciate her assistance in conceptualising this exhibition and her valuable input throughout all stages of planning the exhibition.

Bluepeace highly appreciates the efforts of the photographers who contributed to this exhibition. Without their dedication to this cause it would not have been possible to showcase the vulnerability of the Maldives to climate change through this exhibition.

“Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day. Our aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion,” the organisers of the event described on their website.

Blog Action Day is marked this year as the Maldives is preparing for October 24, the International Day of Climate Action organised by 350.org. Among the events planned for the day is the 24-hour underwater rally organised by Divers Association of Maldives. A video promoting this event has been posted to Youtube.

Another significant event being organised to gain global attention to the vulnerability of Maldives is the underwater cabinet meeting that will be held on October 17. The President of Maldives Mohamed Nasheed and his Cabinet will convene a meeting underwater and sign a petition calling on world leaders to cut down carbon emissions.