Tuvalu at Copenhagen (FULL VERSION): 'The Fate Of My Country Rests In Your Hands'

12/12/09: Ian Fry, the Tuvalu delegate to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, makes an impassioned plea for legally binding agreements to be made by world leaders to save his nation and other low-lying island states.

He notes that is is "an irony of the modern world that the fate of the world is being determined by some senators in the US Congress," and suggests that for President Obama to earn his Nobel Peace Prize by addressing the greatest threat to humanity and to security: climate change.

Tearfully, he concludes: "The fate of my country rests in your hands."

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Tuvalu
• Copenhagen
• COP15
• climate change
• global warming
• Obama

[14loyal31]

@elchasai @elchasai It seems clear to me that your problem is an economic problem. Your comments bare a sign of ignorance and thoughtlessness. The people of Tuvalu are facing a crisis that they see and have proof of. Your concern is also legitimate. The issues you raised maybe be legitimate issue to attend to in your community. So is the climate issue in Tuvalu. These are people who are suffering because countries like yours are more concern with your back-pockets than life itself.

[elchasai]

@elchasai be admitted but the pace at which it is occuring is entirely due to human economics and population leveles. we need not simply to address our forms of fuel allocation and usage, nor simply think about transforming the methods, means and reasons for our way of life as human beings...what we need most and what we need quickest is technologic innovations for how best to establish pollutant free methods that can be incorporated in a manner that is economically feasible for all of us.

[elchasai]

@elchasai to a man woman or child. if people need to leave a low-lying island because it sinks than do so, its not the end of anything. But lets just be responsible and mature adults together about examing possible solutions to the most egregious of issues which is actually food production and ultraviolet increase. an island is an island if the sea levels rise thats really not the largest issue we need to address. sorry but honestly its not. some of climate change is in fact natural that must

[elchasai]

tuvalu has been 2 m above sea on 9 islands and atoll groups for more than 100,000 years. the sea levels are not going to rise more than 2 meters in the next 1000 years. what's with the waterworks? this seems agenda driven and perfomance heavy. why not just be a responsible scientist and an affective lobbyist for what you feel needs to be done and act like a man, like an adult. aside from this i must seriously suggest that land, sea or island is not what makes a people nor what gives life

[elchasai]

how the hell is ian fry a tuvaluan?

[LaraJinnJedi]

I WAS THERE. Fry is a hero & everyone was moved. Naysayers can deny it, but THEY WON'T CHANGE FACTS: climate change is already here, the evidence is visible, & almost all scientists accept it. The question is not "Does it exist" but "How are we going to adapt". The next few decades will see radical shifts in agriculture, energy, & sea levels. Entire peoples will become climate refugees. How will you choose to behave so that we can all lead lives of decency & dignity in a world of massive change?

[takvera]

Thank you for uploading this. It is one of the saddest and most memorable moments for Copenhagen COP15 for me. Checkout my videos, many at climate change rallies in Melbourne.

[TheRaupetube]

whoever u are mr. 2xtream, uve got have a very, very very small little tiny penis

[mversolato]

we can save these people. i do not speak about countries but about people. we can!

[2xtream]

@terraalert: If your not going to search and attempt to find the truth. Then I don't understand why you keep responding? Do the search and ask something to prove you did do a little homework good grief. Ask me another question in about 5 days. Any sooner will just be for stupidity sake of which I have no interest.