Maldives president goes solar

Over 7,000 events in 188 countries planned for this Sunday, October 10

President Nasheed was on his roof in the Maldives this morning to put the finishing touches on the installation of a new set of solar panels donated by the American company, Sungevity.

‘The low-lying Maldives stands at the front line of climate change and we don’t have the luxury of time to sit and wait for the rest of the world to act. We are getting to work to start the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy,’ said the President.

President Nasheed, a former carpenter, screwed in the remaining bolts to help launch this weekend’s Global Work Party, what will be the most widespread day of environmental action in the planet’s history. On Sunday October 10th, at 7,000 events in 188 countries, citizens will be getting to work on climate solutions and telling their politicians to do the same.

The Global Work Party is organised by 350.org, an internet based campaign with the aim of reducing the atmospheric carbon concentration to 350 parts per million, the limit that the latest science says will avoid dangerous climate change. The atmospheric carbon concentration is currently at 390 parts per million.

The President offered the following endorsement for the Global Work Party:

As President of one of the world’s most climate vulnerable countries, I want to thank you for your tireless work and offer my wholehearted support for the Global Work Party on 10/10/10. But my event is just one of dozens of activities planned in the Maldives and thousands worldwide in support of this campaign. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to continue working to ensure that the planet meets the sustainable goal of returning CO2 concentrations to 350ppm. For the Maldives, 350 is more than just a number: it is a passport to survival for our entire nation.

350.org estimates that nearly 100 solar panel installations will be made around the world as part of the Global Work Party, including:

• In the Namib Desert, Namibia, a remote rural education center is installing six panels to try and go carbon neutral
• In Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, South Africa, citizens will install solar-hot water on a home for the mentally disabled
• In Babylon, Iraq students are working to put solar panels up at the University of Babylon
• In Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA a group of community members are putting up panels on a local homeless shelter

The Nasheed installation comes just one day after President Obama announced that he will be re-installing solar panels on the roof of the White House. President Carter installed a set of panels in 1979 only to have them removed by President Reagan a few years later. There is no word yet whether President Obama will actually take part in the installation like President Nasheed.

‘The White House did the right thing, and for the right reasons: they listened to the Americans who asked for solar on their roof, and they listened to the scientists and engineers who told them this is the path to the future,’ said Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org.

‘If it has anything like the effect of the White House garden, it could be a trigger for a wave of solar installations across the country and around the world.”