Maldives is in the front-line on the “War against Climate Change”. Its leaders have been voicing out and speaking about Global warming and rising seas for decades. In Vancouver, October 1987, President Maumoon called the world not to wait and watch a “Death of Nation”, later President Nasheed rallying with 350.org in Copenhagen, December 2009, made it clear to the world leaders that “This is a matter of life and death”.
Maldives has been showing a great deal of activism in a global scale, from holding the very first underwater cabinet meeting and announcing its intentions to become the very first carbon-neutral country in the world. The country has been committed to the different international treaties which had been signed. Maldives perhaps has almost no involvement in the large scale global carbon emission that has created the international climate scenario, however Maldives definitely will be among those countries that would be worst hit by the affects of the global climate change.
The Ministry of Housing and Environment has set the maximum import quota limit of 67 Metric tons for HCFCs for the year 2011. The decision was revealed in a public announcement made by the Ministry on the new control measures for the import of HCFCs to the Maldives. Under the new arrangements the import of HCFCs will be allowed to only those Parties who get selected through a competitive bidding process. A special permit on the import of HCFCs will be issued to select Parties by the Ministry of Economic Development.
The decision by the Government to freeze and control the importation of HCFCs to the Maldives is in accordance with the decisions of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (in particular Decision XIX/6), and the declaration by the Government to phase-out HCFC by 2020.
A complete set of bidding Documents may be obtained by interested bidders through a written application to the Ministry of Housing and Environment. Interested Parties shall submit their Bids before 23 December 2011.
Earlier this year Maldives banned the importing of 15 CFC products into the country (under the "Commodities that cannot be imported into Maldives Act, Clause 5" or "Dhivehiraaje ah ehthere kurun manaa thaketheege qaanoonu"). Being a member country that singed/ratified the Montreal protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer, by the end of this year Maldives has to stop importing CFC products or products that have CFC in it.
President Nasheed’s administration and in particular he himself has being playing a major role in framing Maldivian national development policies and initiatives in a more environment friendly and more sustainable manner. Here is a country that is indeed contributing as much as it can to reduce its carbon foot-print on earth.
“The United States says it opposes the 350 target because the technologies do not exist to make it a reality.
But I know there is no limit to American ingenuity.
This is the country that first announced it would send a man to the moon, and then worked round the clock to build the Apollo spacecraft.
Get the politics right, and the technology will follow.”
~ President Nasheed in Copenhagen, December 2009 ~
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