Climate talks bring unusual attention to Caribbean meeting of Britain and former colonies

Climate debate heats up Caribbean summit

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad — An approaching global climate summit has raised the temperature at what is usually a low-key meeting of leaders from Britain’s former colonial empire.

The Commonwealth heads of government, meeting Friday in the Caribbean, are discussing climate change just before a major summit on the issue in Copenhagen. Leaders of the 53-nation group, whose profile has waned in recent years, say they have a chance to influence the global debate.

“What we can do is to raise our voices politically,” said Prime Minister Patrick Manning of Trinidad and Tobago, which is hosting the biennial meeting. “We feel can have some effect in influencing the discussions in Denmark.”

Others apparently agree. This year’s meeting is drawing leaders from outside the Commonwealth such as Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and, most unusually, French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Queen Elizabeth II, the head of the Commonwealth, said at the opening ceremony that many of the people most vulnerable to climate change live in countries that make up the group.

“The threat to our environment is not a new concern but it is now a global challenge that will continue to affect the security and stability of millions for years to come,” the queen told delegates.

Manning told journalists Thursday that the leaders would not be negotiating the details of a climate treaty, but would be working out a statement that reflects a huge segment of world opinion, a quarter of the world’s countries.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown proposed a $16.5 billion (10 billion British pounds) fund as part of any Copenhagen agreement to help poorer countries reduce greenhouse gases and adapt to climate change.

Britain would contribute $1.3 billion (800 million pounds) to the effort, which he said could help break the deadlock over emissions cuts by reassuring poorer countries that they would receive help in making the transition.

“We have got to provide some money to help that,” Brown said. “Britain will do so, the rest of Europe will do so and I believe America will do so as well.”

Sarkozy is a surprising participant at the English-speaking meeting, but the French leader has been a vocal advocate of ambitious goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions at the Dec. 7-18 summit in Copenhagen.

The Commonwealth, established in 1949 and made up almost entirely of former British colonies, promotes democracy, good government and education.

But the mission seems to be fading: A new report by the Royal Commonwealth Society, a non-governmental organization, said its polling found “members of the public are largely unaware of what the Commonwealth is or does” and called for a more aggressive role in international affairs.

Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah, the director of the society, said he was pleased to see the heads of government focusing on climate change at such a key moment but fears the organization hasn’t really changed — it’s only tackling a relevant issue by coincidence.

The leaders are here this week only because it’s the largest summit before Copenhagen.

“We deserve better than that,” he said. “We aspire to be better than that as the Commonwealth family.”

Those hoping for strong words on at least one human rights issue have already been disappointed.

Both Manning and Kamalesh Sharma, the secretary general of the Commonwealth, declined to condemn a proposed law in Uganda that imposes life imprisonment for homosexual acts and the death penalty for having homosexual sex while HIV positive. The law also sets prison terms for people who do not report known acts of homosexuality.

Manning declined comment, saying it was an internal matter, while Sharma said he hoped the bill would be changed before the Ugandan parliament takes a final vote on it.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni did not mention the issue in remarks at the opening session of the meeting.