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Commonwealth Summit Begins In Trinidad 74 days ago
(RTTNews) - The leaders of the 53-member Commonwealth nations began a summit in Trinidad on Friday, with climate change and related issues expected to dominate proceedings.
The meeting in Trinidad marks the first time that leaders of non-member countries are taking part in a Commonwealth summit. It is also the last major international conference before the Copenhagen climate talks begin on 7th December.
Among non-Commonwealth leaders taking part in the Trinidad summit were UN chief Ban Ki-moon, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Danish PM Lars Rasmussen. Their presence is expected to give authenticity to any agreement reached at the summit.
Climate change is a mater of rising concern to most Commonwealth nations, many of whose members are island states threatened by rising sea levels. Its importance to the member nations is underlined by the fact that the topic is the only issue on the summit's agenda for the first day.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the summit, Queen Elizabeth II said that the summit provided the Commonwealth nations with another opportunity to lead international efforts in tackling the problems caused by climate change.
"The threat to our environment is not a new concern but it is now a global challenge which will continue to affect the security and stability of millions for years to come," she said. "Many of those affected are among the most vulnerable and many of the people least well able to withstand the adverse effects of climate change live in the Commonwealth."
Opening the summit, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning, the host of the three-day meeting, expressed hopes that it would help in securing an agreement on carbon emissions at the Copenhagen climate talks amidst "concerns about the way the negotiations were going".
"We hope to arrive at a political statement that can add value to the process that will culminate in Copenhagen next month... what we can do is raise our voices politically," he added.
Apart from the climate change issues, the Commonwealth leaders are expected to decide on Rwanda's bid to join the 53-member English-speaking group. Another issue that might pop up at the summit is the possible re-entry of Zimbabwe into the grouping.
Rwanda, a French-speaking nation, has sought a membership in the Commonwealth grouping over differences with France, its former colonial master, mostly over the events leading to to 1994 genocide in the African country.
France is currently conducting an investigation the downing of the plane carrying Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, whose death triggered the 1994 genocide in which some 80,000 people were killed. The plane had a French crew on board when it was shot down.
However, Rwanda's inclusion into the Commonwealth is expected to be tightly fought at the summit, as many member-countries feel that such a move would be, in effect, rewarding the African country for the 1994 genocide. However, Rwanda's entry bid has got strong support from several member states.
Another issue that could arise in the meeting is over Sri Lanka's bid for hosting the 2011 Commonwealth summit. British government has already indicated that it would block the Sri Lankan efforts to host the summit over its handling of the recent war with Tamil Tiger rebels.
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