French President Francois Hollande, who was invited to address the Commonwealth meeting in advance of the Paris talks, commended the announcements by Canada, as well as Australia, to top up their climate funding.
Advertisement
The hub will help the least-developed countries and small island developing states including those in the Pacific to access funds for environmental projects in response to climate change.
“The fight against extremism is something that affects us all”, Cameron said.
CHOGM brings together delegates from 53 countries to reflect on the Commonwealth’s strengths that can influence positive change on global socio-economic developments with special focus on matters affecting member nations.
The 2015 UN Climate Change Conference will be held in Paris from November 30 to December 11. We are respected as a champion of a inclusive human community and for good reason and we make vital contributions towards rights based democratic development, peace building, nurturing diversity and strengthening public institutions.
Opening the conference, the Queen said she was enormously proud of what the Commonwealth had achieved and “all of it within my lifetime”.
She also praised outgoing Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma for his eight years of “dedicated service” to the grouping.
Trudeau is also rubbing shoulders with royalty at the Malta summit.
President of Sri Lanka and outgoing Commonwealth Chair-in-Office Maithripala Sirisena said he is fully satisfied with the accomplishment of goals set at the last CHOGM in Colombo during the period of last two years when Sri Lanka was the Chair in Office of the Commonwealth.
Turnbull has only been Australian prime minister since mid-September (although he’s a longtime politician who also served in the cabinet of former prime minister Tony Abbott), so he’s fairly new to the global leaders’ summits as well.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II will not get a chance of a nostalgic visit to a villa in Malta she shared with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, when they were newly-married almost 70 years ago.
“On that cool day in April, seated next to you, was my father”, said Trudeau, 43.
Advertisement
In 1978, the Queen had just left Canada and the military band was still playing marches, so 3-year-old Sacha and 5-year-old Justin marched back and forth while their father, Prime Minister Treudeau, was walking to his plane yesterday for their return to Ottawa from Edmonton. “You more than honoured your vow”.
