President Nasheed Speaks at Columbia

March 29, 2012

Former President Nasheed and Michael Gerrard

Background:

After years as a political prisoner, Mohamed Nasheed was elected President of the Republic of the Maldives in 2008 in the first democratic election in that Indian Ocean nation’s history. Trained as a marine scientist, President Nasheed emerged as one of the leading voices of small island nations threatened by sea level rise and climate change. He was forced out of office in February 2012 in what may have been a coup orchestrated by the repressive forces he defeated in 2008.

President Nasheed is the subject of a film, The Island President, which will be opened in New York at Film Forum on March 28, 2012.

Event Co-Sponsors:

• Columbia Center for Climate Change Law
• The Earth Institute of Columbia University
• Environmental and International Environmental Law Committees of the New York City Bar Association
• Yale Environmental Law Association
• Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy
• Bard MBA in Sustainability