More hope for climate deal after Commonwealth accord

The Commonwealth climate change agreement has made a deal at the upcoming Paris COP21 talks more likely, the 53-country organisation said on Sunday, though one country expressed reservations over parts of the accord.

“The fact that we have achieved convergence and near unanimity on a very focused statement on climate change puts the possibility of a success at COP21 in better shape,” Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, the Commonwealth summit host, said at the close of a three-day gathering on the Mediterranean island.

Heads of government from the Commonwealth family, which represents around a third of the world’s population, on Saturday pledged to demand an “ambitious” and legally-binding outcome from the world climate change summit in Paris, which officially starts on Monday.

But “there were reservations expressed... by one country” over parts of three paragraphs in the agreement, the statement said. Officials were being tight-lipped about who had dragged their feet over the deal, or which parts of the paragraphs had raised concerns.

Though global warming topped the agenda at the Malta summit, world leaders also tackled the hot-button issues of extremism, corruption and migration.

The Commonwealth said it was “deeply concerned” about the disproportionate threat from an ever-hotter planet to its most vulnerable members.

It launched a Climate Finance Access Hub aimed at smaller island states that want to get access to funds to mitigate against the effects of climate change. Australia, Britain and Canada pledged billions of dollars to help the Commonwealth’s weaker members.

“Climate change unites us, it puts us all in the same canoe. If a big wave comes, that canoe is going to be washed away with everyone in it,” President Baron Waqa of Nauru warned at a closing press conference.

“It’s a matter of life and death.”

Freundel Stuart, the Prime Minister of Barbados, called on Paris attendees to wake up to the issue.

“If we don’t reach a sensible agreement in Paris, we can all prepare for disaster,” he said.