The Island President tries to give a human face to climate change, following Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed. The movie opens with a quick history of the man, who was educated in England before returning to The Maldives and working for years to bring democracy to the autocratic islands that had been ruled by the same man since 1978. He was arrested and tortured numerous times, had to go into exile before going back and managing to help force change and become President in 2008.

Rather than just resting on his laurels, Mohamed quickly realised that the biggest issue facing The Maldives is climate change and that if it isn’t stopped, the islands may literally sink under the waves in the next 50 years. The film follows his attempts to raise the profile of the issue and affect change ahead of the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit in December of 2009. [Read more…]