Commonwealth Nations Discuss Climate Change, Ocean Protection, Slavery at Samoa Summit

The leaders of Commonwealth nations met on October 24 in Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) being held from October 21-26 in the South Pacific nation of Samoa. More than half of the members are small nations including many low-lying islands which are at risk from rising sea levels.

Tuvalu is one such island nation whose climate change minister, Maina Vakafua Talia, urged to strive for the Paris Accord's warming goal of 1.5 degrees C, calling new fossil fuel projects a "death sentence" for his country. "We call on our wealthier partners to align themselves with this goal and not fan the flames of the climate crisis with fossil fuel expansion," he said, as cited in a Reuters report.

A the summit, Island leaders are expected to issue a declaration on ocean protection. After Thursday's meeting was over, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told a press conference that climate change is a national security threat, an economic threat to the people of the Pacific and to the members of the Commonwealth.

Later on Thursday, Charles will be shown the impact of rising sea levels that are forcing people to move inland, a Samoan chief told Reuters.

Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa welcomed the assembled leaders at a banquet, among them were Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his British counterpart, Keir Starmer.

The summit will feature discussions on climate change and reparations for Britain's role in transatlantic slavery.

The grouping consists of representatives of 56 countries, most of which were colonised by Britain. The head of the grouping, King Charles is also attending the meeting that began on October 21 and will go on till October 26. The member countries meet every two years at the CHOGM.

Ocean temperatures are rising in the Pacific Islands at three times the global rate, Antonio Guterres, the secretary general of the United Nations, had said, leaving their people "uniquely exposed" to the impact of rising sea levels.

Colonised Nations Push for Reparations for Slavery

The discussions will also be held on the push for Britain to pay reparations or make other amends for transatlantic slavery, a demand that has been there for a long time and gained momentum worldwide only recently, particularly among the Caribbean Community(CARICOM) and the African Union.

On day one of the summit, Starmer said Britain would engage with leaders who want to discuss the issue of reparations for slavery but would not apologise, the report mentioned. He wanted to "look forward rather than looking backwards", he told Reuters. A CARICOM source told Reuters that CHOGM presented an "important opportunity" for dialogue on reparations and the region would be raising the issue there.

Eric Phillips, a CARICOM'S executive commissioned to seek reparations from former colonial powers such as Britain, France and Portugal, said that there is no relevance of the Commonwealth if Starmer "takes this cruel approach".

Between the 15th and the 19th century, at least 12.5mn Africans were kidnapped and forcibly taken by European ships and merchants and sold into slavery, said the report.