In a lecture at the Freie University of Berlin, President Mohamed Nasheed has said the climate deniers are obstructing the momentum on tackling climate change, and the global leadership on climate change is ebbing away.

Attacking the scepticism fuelled by the ‘Climate-gate’ story, the President said in a huge 1,000-page IPCCC report, there could be few errors, but which did not negate the other 999 pages of evidence.

Stating that there was “a diabolical plan…to cloud the scientific evidence”, he said there were deniers everywhere, from governments to businesses and even in parliaments.

The President said, “I will tell these people please visit the Maldives and have a look at what is happening to our beaches, our coral reefs, to the ocean”.

In his lecture, which was attended by students, policymakers and scientists, President Nasheed said “we cannot choose to live in the Age of Stupid”, adding that the world needed to keep up the momentum from Copenhagen.

He lamented that some countries that helped make the Accord are now distancing themselves from it, and said we could not treat [climate change] as just another negotiation.

The President also urged EU countries to show greater leadership on climate change, and called on the EU countries to aim for 1.5 degree rise, stating that a 2 degree temperature rise could be catastrophic.

In the lecture, which also focused on the democratic reform efforts in the Maldives, the President urged the world not to give up on climate change.

“We must not betray our children. We must not let the deniers win,” he said.