The Maldives was one of the fiercest critics advocating for a robust climate treaty, observes Amy Goodman on Democracy Now.
However the leaked US Embassy cables reveal that in February, two months after the Copenhagen talks, the US deputy climate change envoy, Jonathan Pershing, met the European Union climate action commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, in Brussels, where she told him, quote, “the Alliance of Small Island States countries ‘could be our best allies’ given their need for financing.”
The cables show talks between officials between the Maldives and the US referring to several projects costing approximately $50 million. The Maldives has since wholeheartedly embraced the Copenhagen Accord.
Amy Goodman interviews US Special Climate Change Envoy Todd Stern, and John Vidal, the Environment Editor for the UK’s Guardian newspaper.