WEBVTT 00:00:01.531 --> 00:00:06.198 On the 17th of October, 2009, 00:00:06.222 --> 00:00:10.690 President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives did something unusual. 00:00:11.811 --> 00:00:15.374 He held his cabinet meeting underwater. 00:00:19.614 --> 00:00:24.130 He literally took his ministers scuba diving, as it were, 00:00:24.154 --> 00:00:28.633 to warn the world that his country could drown 00:00:28.657 --> 00:00:30.979 unless we control global warming. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:31.741 --> 00:00:35.146 Now I don't know whether he got his message across to the world or not, 00:00:35.170 --> 00:00:36.929 but he certainly caught mine. 00:00:37.908 --> 00:00:39.868 I saw a political stunt. 00:00:40.901 --> 00:00:42.577 You see, I'm a politician, 00:00:42.601 --> 00:00:44.520 and I notice these things. 00:00:45.108 --> 00:00:46.751 And let's be honest, 00:00:46.775 --> 00:00:50.750 the Maldives are distant from where I come from -- 00:00:50.774 --> 00:00:52.493 my country is Bhutan -- 00:00:52.517 --> 00:00:56.258 so I didn't lose any sleep over their impending fate. 00:00:57.375 --> 00:01:01.638 Barely two months later, I saw another political stunt. 00:01:02.234 --> 00:01:06.098 This time, the prime minister of Nepal, 00:01:06.122 --> 00:01:09.845 he held his cabinet meeting on Mt. Everest. 00:01:11.102 --> 00:01:16.428 He took all his ministers all the way up to the base camp of Everest 00:01:16.452 --> 00:01:18.394 to warn the world 00:01:18.418 --> 00:01:20.379 that the Himalayan glaciers were melting. 00:01:21.170 --> 00:01:22.869 Now did that worry me? 00:01:22.893 --> 00:01:24.139 You bet it did. 00:01:24.163 --> 00:01:25.527 I live in the Himalayas. 00:01:27.598 --> 00:01:30.130 But did I lose any sleep over his message? 00:01:31.205 --> 00:01:32.355 No. 00:01:32.748 --> 00:01:38.579 I wasn't ready to let a political stunt interfere with my beauty sleep. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:38.952 --> 00:01:40.722 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:01:40.746 --> 00:01:42.428 Now fast-forward 10 years. 00:01:43.865 --> 00:01:46.386 In February this year, 00:01:46.410 --> 00:01:48.690 I saw this report. 00:01:50.163 --> 00:01:54.154 This here report basically concludes 00:01:54.178 --> 00:02:00.332 that one third of the ice on the Hindu Kush Himalaya mountains 00:02:00.356 --> 00:02:02.469 could melt by the end of the century. 00:02:03.085 --> 00:02:05.380 But that's only if, 00:02:05.404 --> 00:02:08.611 if we are able to contain global warming 00:02:08.635 --> 00:02:12.916 to 1.5 degrees centigrade over preindustrial levels. 00:02:12.940 --> 00:02:15.810 Otherwise, if we can't, 00:02:15.834 --> 00:02:17.817 the glaciers would melt much faster. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:20.766 --> 00:02:24.149 1.5 degrees Celsius. "No way," I thought. 00:02:24.173 --> 00:02:27.490 Even the Paris Agreement's ambitious targets 00:02:27.514 --> 00:02:30.750 aimed to limit global warming to two degrees centigrade. 00:02:31.317 --> 00:02:35.822 1.5 degrees centigrade is what they call the best-case scenario. 00:02:37.435 --> 00:02:39.484 "Now this can't be true," I thought. 00:02:39.508 --> 00:02:41.662 The Hindu Kush Himalaya region 00:02:41.686 --> 00:02:45.512 is the world's third-largest repository of ice 00:02:45.536 --> 00:02:47.186 after the North and South Poles. 00:02:47.210 --> 00:02:49.781 That's why we are also called the Third Pole. 00:02:50.361 --> 00:02:52.527 There's a lot of ice in the region. 00:02:53.377 --> 00:02:55.860 And yes, the glaciers, they are melting. 00:02:56.380 --> 00:02:57.535 We know that. 00:02:58.253 --> 00:03:00.092 I have been to those in my country. 00:03:00.116 --> 00:03:02.217 I've seen them, and yes, they are melting. 00:03:02.241 --> 00:03:03.798 They are vulnerable. 00:03:03.822 --> 00:03:06.734 "But they can't be that vulnerable," I remember thinking. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:09.275 --> 00:03:10.774 But what if they are? 00:03:11.739 --> 00:03:15.675 What if our glaciers melt much more quickly than I anticipate? 00:03:16.320 --> 00:03:20.944 What if our glaciers are much more vulnerable than previously thought? 00:03:20.968 --> 00:03:24.439 And what if, as a result, the glacial lakes -- 00:03:24.463 --> 00:03:27.368 now these are lakes that form when glaciers melt -- 00:03:27.392 --> 00:03:31.233 what if those lakes burst under the weight of additional water? 00:03:32.585 --> 00:03:35.354 And what if those floods cascade into other glacial lakes, 00:03:35.378 --> 00:03:37.481 creating even bigger outbursts? 00:03:38.452 --> 00:03:42.227 That would create unprecedented flash floods in my country. 00:03:43.113 --> 00:03:45.271 That would wreck my country. 00:03:46.302 --> 00:03:48.914 That would wreak havoc in my country. 00:03:48.938 --> 00:03:52.478 That would have the potential to literally destroy our land, 00:03:52.502 --> 00:03:55.009 our livelihood, our way of life. 00:03:58.491 --> 00:04:02.371 So that report caught my attention 00:04:02.395 --> 00:04:05.735 in ways that political stunts couldn't. 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:06.948 It was put together 00:04:06.972 --> 00:04:11.537 by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, or ICIMOD, 00:04:11.561 --> 00:04:12.846 which is based in Nepal. 00:04:13.600 --> 00:04:18.315 Scientists and experts have studied our glaciers for decades, 00:04:18.339 --> 00:04:23.060 and their report kept me awake at night, agonizing about the bad news 00:04:23.084 --> 00:04:25.395 and what it meant for my country 00:04:25.419 --> 00:04:26.569 and my people. 00:04:27.750 --> 00:04:29.973 So after several sleepless nights, 00:04:29.997 --> 00:04:33.170 I went to Nepal to visit ICIMOD. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:34.892 --> 00:04:39.296 I found a team of highly competent and dedicated scientists there, 00:04:39.320 --> 00:04:40.939 and here's what they told me. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:41.828 --> 00:04:42.978 Number one: 00:04:43.706 --> 00:04:47.976 the Hindu Kush Himalaya glaciers have been melting for some time now. 00:04:49.716 --> 00:04:52.730 Take that glacier, for instance. 00:04:53.278 --> 00:04:55.096 It's on Mt. Everest. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:05:00.604 As you can see, this once massive glacier has already lost much of its ice. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:02.029 --> 00:05:03.538 Number two: 00:05:03.562 --> 00:05:05.912 the glaciers are now melting much more quickly -- 00:05:05.936 --> 00:05:12.185 so quickly, in fact, that at just 1.5 degrees centigrade of global warming, 00:05:12.209 --> 00:05:14.891 one-third of the glaciers would melt. 00:05:16.084 --> 00:05:19.305 At two degrees centigrade of global warming, 00:05:19.329 --> 00:05:21.791 half the glaciers would disappear. 00:05:21.815 --> 00:05:24.941 And if current trends were to continue, 00:05:24.965 --> 00:05:28.434 a full two-thirds of our glaciers would vanish. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:30.339 --> 00:05:31.489 Number three: 00:05:32.295 --> 00:05:37.469 global warming means that our mountains receive more rain and less snow ... 00:05:38.779 --> 00:05:42.481 and, unlike snowfall, rain melts ice, 00:05:42.505 --> 00:05:45.282 which just hurts the health of our glaciers. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:46.397 --> 00:05:47.547 Number four: 00:05:49.457 --> 00:05:52.458 pollution in the region has increased the amount of black carbon 00:05:52.482 --> 00:05:54.642 that's deposited on our glaciers. 00:05:54.666 --> 00:05:56.021 Black carbon is like soot. 00:05:56.045 --> 00:05:58.346 Black carbon absorbs heat 00:05:58.370 --> 00:06:00.774 and just accelerates the melting of glaciers. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:02.243 --> 00:06:03.393 To summarize, 00:06:04.344 --> 00:06:06.592 our glaciers are melting rapidly, 00:06:07.775 --> 00:06:11.251 and global warming is making them melt much more quickly. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:13.036 --> 00:06:14.362 But what does this mean? 00:06:15.539 --> 00:06:20.310 It means that the 240 million people 00:06:20.334 --> 00:06:22.843 who live in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region -- 00:06:22.867 --> 00:06:28.119 in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar 00:06:28.143 --> 00:06:30.769 and my own beloved country Bhutan -- 00:06:30.793 --> 00:06:32.959 these people will be directly affected. 00:06:34.932 --> 00:06:36.875 When glaciers melt, 00:06:36.899 --> 00:06:38.816 when there's more rain and less snow, 00:06:38.840 --> 00:06:43.117 there will be huge changes in the way water behaves. 00:06:43.681 --> 00:06:45.437 There will be more extremes: 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:49.966 more intense rain, more flash floods, more landslides, 00:06:49.990 --> 00:06:52.928 more glacial lake outburst floods. 00:06:52.952 --> 00:06:57.364 All this will cause unimaginable destruction 00:06:57.388 --> 00:07:01.959 in a region that already has some of the poorest people on earth. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:03.971 --> 00:07:06.797 But it's not just the people in the immediate region 00:07:06.821 --> 00:07:08.110 who'll be affected. 00:07:08.134 --> 00:07:11.605 People living downstream will also be hit hard. 00:07:13.619 --> 00:07:18.318 That's because 10 of their major rivers 00:07:18.342 --> 00:07:21.186 originate in the Hindu Kush Himalaya mountains. 00:07:22.031 --> 00:07:26.564 These rivers provide critical water for agriculture 00:07:26.588 --> 00:07:28.042 and drinking water 00:07:28.066 --> 00:07:33.070 to more than 1.6 billion people living downstream. 00:07:33.094 --> 00:07:35.578 That's one in five humans. 00:07:37.149 --> 00:07:39.254 That's why the Hindu Kush Himalaya mountains 00:07:39.278 --> 00:07:41.713 are also called the water towers of Asia. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:43.815 --> 00:07:45.219 But when glaciers melt, 00:07:46.213 --> 00:07:47.830 when monsoons turn severe, 00:07:47.854 --> 00:07:50.608 those rivers will obviously flood, 00:07:51.432 --> 00:07:54.401 so there will be deluges when water is not required 00:07:54.425 --> 00:07:57.156 and droughts will be very common, 00:07:57.180 --> 00:07:59.123 when water is desperately required. 00:07:59.147 --> 00:08:04.942 In short, Asia's water tower will be broken, 00:08:04.966 --> 00:08:11.037 and that will be disastrous for one-fifth of humanity. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:14.765 --> 00:08:16.407 Should the rest of the world care? 00:08:17.899 --> 00:08:20.050 Should you, for instance, care? 00:08:20.472 --> 00:08:23.645 Remember, I didn't care when I heard that the Maldives 00:08:23.669 --> 00:08:25.520 could disappear underwater. 00:08:25.544 --> 00:08:28.670 And that is the crux of the problem, isn't it? 00:08:28.694 --> 00:08:30.273 We don't care. 00:08:32.428 --> 00:08:35.043 We don't care until we are personally affected. 00:08:35.729 --> 00:08:38.420 I mean, we know. We know climate change is real. 00:08:38.444 --> 00:08:41.012 We know that we face drastic and dramatic change. 00:08:41.036 --> 00:08:42.526 We know that it is coming fast. 00:08:42.550 --> 00:08:44.359 Yet most of us 00:08:45.662 --> 00:08:48.947 act as if everything were normal. 00:08:50.359 --> 00:08:51.724 So we must care, 00:08:52.726 --> 00:08:54.308 all of us, 00:08:54.332 --> 00:08:59.046 and if you can't care for those who are affected by the melting of glaciers, 00:08:59.070 --> 00:09:01.033 you should at least care for yourself. 00:09:02.193 --> 00:09:05.266 That's because the Hindu Kush Himalaya mountains -- 00:09:05.290 --> 00:09:08.741 the entire region is like the pulse of the planet. 00:09:10.819 --> 00:09:13.191 If the region falls sick, 00:09:13.215 --> 00:09:15.960 the entire planet will eventually suffer, 00:09:17.164 --> 00:09:18.314 and right now, 00:09:18.970 --> 00:09:21.646 with our glaciers melting rapidly, 00:09:21.670 --> 00:09:23.511 the region is not just sick -- 00:09:23.535 --> 00:09:25.361 it is crying out for help. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:27.810 --> 00:09:30.254 And how will it affect the rest of the world? 00:09:30.278 --> 00:09:34.664 One obvious scenario is the potential destabilization 00:09:34.688 --> 00:09:38.562 caused by tens of millions of climate refugees, 00:09:38.586 --> 00:09:41.763 who'll be forced to move because they have no or little water, 00:09:41.787 --> 00:09:44.748 or because their livelihoods have been destroyed 00:09:44.772 --> 00:09:46.475 by the melting of glaciers. 00:09:47.391 --> 00:09:51.116 Another scenario we can't take lightly 00:09:51.140 --> 00:09:54.066 is the potential of conflict over water, 00:09:55.409 --> 00:10:02.329 and the political destabilization in a region that has three nuclear powers: 00:10:02.353 --> 00:10:06.575 China, India, Pakistan. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:09.175 --> 00:10:14.439 I believe that the situation in our region is grave enough 00:10:14.463 --> 00:10:19.080 to warrant the creation of a new intergovernmental agency. 00:10:20.022 --> 00:10:23.877 So as a native from that part of the world, 00:10:23.901 --> 00:10:27.116 I want to propose here, today, 00:10:27.140 --> 00:10:30.203 the establishment of the Third Pole Council, 00:10:31.846 --> 00:10:35.342 a high-level, intergovernmental organization 00:10:35.366 --> 00:10:39.030 tasked with the singular responsibility 00:10:39.054 --> 00:10:42.449 of protecting the world's third-largest repository of ice. 00:10:43.720 --> 00:10:45.848 A Third Pole Council 00:10:45.872 --> 00:10:49.819 would consist of all eight countries located in the region 00:10:49.843 --> 00:10:51.101 as member countries, 00:10:51.125 --> 00:10:53.763 as equal member countries, 00:10:53.787 --> 00:10:56.533 and could also include representative organizations 00:10:56.557 --> 00:11:00.311 and other countries who have vested interests in the region 00:11:00.335 --> 00:11:01.891 as non-voting members. 00:11:01.915 --> 00:11:03.969 But the big idea 00:11:03.993 --> 00:11:07.556 is to get all stakeholders together to work together. 00:11:07.580 --> 00:11:12.124 To work together to monitor the health of the glaciers; 00:11:12.148 --> 00:11:17.028 to work together to shape and implement policies to protect our glaciers, 00:11:17.052 --> 00:11:18.803 and, by extension, 00:11:18.827 --> 00:11:23.951 to protect the billions of people who depend on our glaciers. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:25.602 --> 00:11:27.009 We have to work together, 00:11:28.783 --> 00:11:33.354 because thinking globally, acting locally ... 00:11:34.552 --> 00:11:35.991 does not work. 00:11:36.015 --> 00:11:37.490 We've tried that in Bhutan. 00:11:38.463 --> 00:11:42.720 We've made immense sacrifices to act locally ... 00:11:44.705 --> 00:11:49.831 and while individual localized efforts will continue to be important, 00:11:49.855 --> 00:11:53.308 they cannot stand up to the onslaught of climate change. 00:11:53.677 --> 00:11:57.407 To stand up to climate change, we must work together. 00:11:58.272 --> 00:12:01.931 We must think globally and act regionally. 00:12:03.017 --> 00:12:06.932 Our entire region must come together, 00:12:06.956 --> 00:12:08.498 to work together, 00:12:08.522 --> 00:12:10.484 to fight climate change together, 00:12:10.508 --> 00:12:13.252 to make our voices heard together. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:15.751 --> 00:12:20.068 And that includes India and China. 00:12:20.836 --> 00:12:22.901 They must step up their game. 00:12:24.197 --> 00:12:28.879 They must take the ownership of the fight to protect our glaciers. 00:12:29.482 --> 00:12:32.544 And for that, these two countries, these two powerful giants, 00:12:32.568 --> 00:12:35.419 must reduce their own greenhouse gases, 00:12:36.646 --> 00:12:39.475 control their pollution, and lead the fight. 00:12:41.134 --> 00:12:44.428 Lead the global fight against climate change. 00:12:45.950 --> 00:12:48.886 And all that with a renewed sense of urgency. 00:12:48.910 --> 00:12:52.908 Only then -- and that, too, only maybe -- 00:12:52.932 --> 00:12:54.808 will our region 00:12:54.832 --> 00:12:57.268 and other regions that depend on our glaciers 00:12:57.292 --> 00:13:01.855 have any chance to avoid major catastrophes. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:03.554 --> 00:13:04.998 Time is running out. 00:13:06.257 --> 00:13:09.526 We must act together, now. 00:13:10.400 --> 00:13:16.899 Otherwise, the next time Nepal's cabinet meets on Mt. Everest, 00:13:16.923 --> 00:13:19.226 that spectacular backdrop ... 00:13:20.534 --> 00:13:22.018 may look quite different. 00:13:25.316 --> 00:13:26.466 And if that happens, 00:13:28.031 --> 00:13:30.244 if our glaciers melt, 00:13:30.268 --> 00:13:33.673 rising sea levels could well drown the Maldives, 00:13:35.229 --> 00:13:39.551 and while they can hold their cabinet meetings underwater 00:13:39.575 --> 00:13:42.226 to send an SOS to the world, 00:13:42.250 --> 00:13:44.679 their country can keep existing 00:13:44.703 --> 00:13:49.083 only if their islands keep existing. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:51.256 --> 00:13:55.931 The Maldives are still distant, away. 00:13:57.090 --> 00:14:00.669 Their islands are distant from where I live. 00:14:01.927 --> 00:14:07.498 But now, I pay close attention to what happens out there. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:09.259 --> 00:14:12.023 Thank you very much. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:12.047 --> 00:14:16.507 (Applause)