Commonwealth leaders yesterday agreed to an action plan on climate change which, however, falls short of specifying a binding commitment on emission cuts that some countries, including Malta, had lobbied for.
At the end of the 2007 CHOGM summit, held over the weekend in Kampala, Uganda, the 53-country organisation is left with a statement saying that its member states will "individually and collectively" lobby the UN for a "comprehensive post-2012 global agreement that strengthens, broadens and deepens current arrangements and leads to reduced emissions of global greenhouse gases".
During an informal press briefing at the idyllic Munyonyo retreat centre, which the Ugandan government made available to heads of government attending the summit, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said Malta had lobbied along with the UK and other countries for a binding agreement but found opposition from countries that would rather reach an agreement involving all major green gas-emitting countries and not just Commonwealth members.
Canada and Australia, in fact, argued against the mention of binding commitments if not all countries were included, particularly booming green house emitters such as China.
The situation may change for Australia, whose freshly-elected Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has already indicated he intends to undo his predecessor's resistance to action on climate change.
Yet, even the present compromise will hopefully serve as a strong platform for the forthcoming UN climate change summit in Bali early next month, Dr Gonzi said.
The Commonwealth's action plan highlights specifically island states and low-lying costal areas as particularly vulnerable.
It underscores the need to differentiate between the responsibly of developed and developing nations in combating the effects of green house gases. During the discussions, India was particularly adamant on this point, insisting it could not bear the same burden as countries that had built their economies on decades of unregulated emissions.
Speaking at the end of the summit, just before catching his return flight to Malta, Dr Gonzi said the government was satisfied with how the work that started at the Malta CHOGM in 2005 was wound down in Uganda.
The summit also saw the election of the Commonwealth's new Secretary General, Kamalesh Sharma of India. The only other candidate was Malta's Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Frendo.
While Malta was keen on the post contested by Dr Frendo, the new Secretary General had been selected and the country would now look forward to continue contributing to the advancement of the organisation and its members, Dr Gonzi said. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper made special mention of the election in his final statement, thanking Dr Frendo for making the choice of Secretary General a difficult one this time round.
This may be little consolation for the government but it falls in line with Dr Frendo's statement that his campaign helped raise Malta's profile within the 53-nation organisation.