Port of Spain: The Commonwealth has an opportunity to lead once more, this time in the fight against climate change, Britain`s Queen Elizabeth II said as she opened the summit of the 53-nation group, ahead of the UN Copenhagen summit on climate change.
The Commonwealth can be proud of the fact that in each of the last six decades, it has shaped the international response to emerging global challenges, the Queen -- titular head of the group -- said at the opening ceremony on Friday night at the newly-built National Centre for the Performing Arts here.
"And on this, the eve of the United Nations Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change, the Commonwealth has an opportunity to lead once more," she told the assembled heads of government, India`s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh among them.
The Queen said that the threat to our environment is not a new concern. "But it is now a global challenge which will continue to affect security and stability for years to come. 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."
She observed that a second area of opportunity for the Commonwealth is nurturing its young people.
"As with environmental challenges, this area is not new. But while the Commonwealth may rightly celebrate reaching its 60th anniversary, the future must show that it is relevant to and supportive of our young people who need to be convinced that the Commonwealth can help them realise their ambitions," she added.
She went on to say that for small states, the buffeting of the economic storms of the last 12 months has provided a stern test and great resourcefulness has been shown in order to meet the challenge.
"As an organisation, the Commonwealth must remain dedicated to building resilience among the smaller members."
Kamalesh Sharma, the Commonwealth Secretary General, in his opening address said: "Amidst the wreckage created by a series of global crises, the looming existential catastrophe of climate change, the pernicious poison of poverty and disease, the strangling of so much entitlement and opportunity, the Commonwealth has to prove itself worthy."
Putting climate change on top of the agenda at the Commonwealth conference, Sharma stressed that the group will make a restatement of "shared responsibilities towards the preservation of our planet".
"Finally -- we must respond to the call of this meeting for partnership in pursuit of equity and sustainability. We are already a network of partnerships: The Queen once memorably referred to us as `the original World Wide Web`," he said.
IANS
