KEY POINTS:
A crusading campaigner for the Pacific state of Tuvalu has issued a stark warning to Britain about the devastating effect that global warming will have on the islands.
Dr Iftikhar Ayaz, honorary consul for Tuvalu in London, is battling to raise awareness of the effects that climate change is having on smaller, less developed nations.
"The time to act is now," he said. "Tuvalu could be underwater as soon as 2040 or 2050 and inaction will result in the destruction of the islands. We are not talking about science fiction or hypothetical ideas ... it's happening to us."
Tuvalu, nine low-lying coral atolls, is no more than 4m above sea level. The islands have been submerging at a rate of about 2.3cm a year, but Ayaz believes that if the West takes immediate action on emissions, that could be reversed.
"There has been enough talk. People still dispute what should happen on emissions, and it means that no fundamental decision is taken on reducing them.
"There are excuses from all sides," said Ayaz, "but we don't see any substantive move to try and check this very serious and dangerous problem."
Tuvalu has a population of 10,000. Ayaz said research had focused on ways to relocate the Tuvaluans, and tried to tackle New Zealand and Australia's tight immigration laws. But he was frustrated by this "defeatist" attitude, and said the Tuvaluan people had no desire to leave.
"Nobody wants to leave the country where their ancestors have lived for almost 2000 years, and why should the world make the situation so bad that people have to leave?"
- INDEPENDENT
