While the focus of the Hay Festival Maldives event being sponsored by Soneva Fushi features a range of ecological issues, Soneva Fushi has gone one further by hosting an Eco Symposium ‘climate change debate’ featuring a range of premier environmental keynote speakers. One of the speakers is none other than the high profile Maldive President Mohamed Nasheed. It also includes Solar Century Founder Jeremy Leggett (with whom I shared the speaking stage a few years ago at the 2007 Tech Track Awards), and Mark Lynas author of ‘Six Degrees: Our Future on A Hotter Planet’ (which coincidentally I just read last week…scary stuff). Quite a first class line-up.
- “The Six Senses Eco Symposium at Soneva Fushi in the Maldives from 7-10 October 2010 will have an exciting line up of guest speakers including leading consultants, environmentalists, international policy makers and visionaries…The Symposium’s opening speakers will be President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed and his advisor on climate change, Mark Lynas. President Nasheed has made worldwide headlines with his country’s commitment to carbon neutrality by 2020. Mark Lynas’ bestselling book “Six Degrees: Our future on a hotter planet” won the prestigious Royal Society Prize for Science Books in 2007 and was turned into a documentary by National Geographic.Practical examples of eco technology will be showcased at the Symposium to inspire the travel and tourism leaders attending. Clean energy specialists such as Lounette Dyer of Soledo Energy, Jeremy Leggett of Solarcentury, Eric Scotto of Akuo Energy Group and Dr. Anthony Michaels of Proteus Environmental Technologies will explain how existing technology can both reduce the carbon footprint of hotels and resorts and increase profitability, the holy grail for the industry.”
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Mr. Mohamed Nasheed is not the perfect person to Open such an Event,.. What does he know about the Environment.. He is good for nothing..
Well, he IS good for worldwide PR on the subjects of (a) the Maldives (always good when a major industry is tourism), and for (b) environmental awareness (always good if rising sea levels are a serious threat at worst or even if just the habitat of corals and sea life is threatened which attracts tourists).
I don't know anything about the President's politics or even his knowledge of the Environment (but I suspect he knows quite a bit with all of the time and energy that he commits to it), but when it comes to Public Relations he is an absolute master. Probably one of the top 10 leaders in the world at it right up there with Richard Branson. His efforts are creative (critical to get attention). But more importantly, they are humble. He is not afraid of showing himself in a less than 'presidential' context if it means publicity that could help the Maldives. I admire leaders who are humble in that way.
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