Maldives, the Indian Ocean island state, would be submerged if global warming causes sea levels to rise. So would other islands and coastal cities.
When the world's leaders met at the United Nations on Tuesday for a summit on climate change, Mohammad Nasheed, the president of Maldives, committed his country to being carbon neutral by 2020.
Unfortunately for Maldives, and for other small nations, they can't save themselves, no matter how aggressive their own carbon policies. Maldives needs help from the world's largest carbon emitters. At the top of the list are the United States and China, which together account for some 40 percent of the world's carbon pollution.
All the leaders who spoke at the UN talked of the vital importance of confronting the problem. Unfortunately, the U.S., China and most other large nations were unwilling to make specific commitments. They need to do so.
An exception was Japan, whose new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, pledged his nation would cut greenhouse gas levels 25 percent, to 1990 levels, by 2020. That's the kind of benchmark that all nations should set.
Yes, it is likely to be economically difficult. Switching from an economy based on fossil fuels to one based on cleaner energy will be a huge undertaking. Yet we're pleased that while governments are bogged down, the private sector is moving ahead. We are already seeing more wind and solar power. And the auto industry will soon be churning out electric cars.
And even if you don't believe the Earth is warming, the world is embracing green technology. The United States needs to be a leader in promoting and producing it.
Rajendra K. Pachauri, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, underscored the urgency of the situation. "Science leaves us no space for inaction now."
And to the skeptics who say no action is needed to slow the carbon buildup in the earth's atmosphere, we can only ask: What if you're wrong? What will you tell Maldives?
