This conversation starter is taken from an article by Vijay Amliwala, the Director of Commonwealth Business Council Technology. A longer version originally appeared in Overseas magazine, the quarterly journal of the Royal Over-Seas League.

With high growth predicted over the next decade in many Commonwealth countries, now is the time to take some initiative. There is the potential to reduce energy consumption in certain (wealthier) countries, while improving the quality of life for the world’s poorest.

We need to harness renewable energy, make renewable energies available to those who currently lack modern forms of energy, and make renewable energies attainable to all without risking geo-political conflict over competition for resources.

Commonwealth Business Council Technology (CBCT), a company formed in 2007 in the UK, aims to make ‘clean technology’ a strategic focus. Many leading figures within the Commonwealth – including the Indian science and technology minister, the Maldives energy minister, and the Kenyan prime minister – have discussed their ‘clean technology’ plans with the CBCT, and examined their ‘green’ strategies. Together, they have resolved that the Commonwealth needs to support developing countries first and foremost, to ensure their growth encompasses green initiatives.

Work has already started in India. With more than 300 days of sunlight a year, and large expanse of arid land, Gujarat has good radiation levels and land that can be used to transfer the sun’s rays into electricity. CBCT are now planning to build a ‘Solar Power Plant’, harnessing and producing 30MW of solar power, connecting directly to the national electricity grid for consumers’ use. Such innovations can, hopefully, be applied to other regions of the Commonwealth.

Recently, the Kenyan energy minister expressed interest in utilising solar and wind power, but admitted a reluctance in putting scarce resources into capital-intensive programmes. Here, the Gujarat Solar Policy can move the agenda forward in Africa by providing a concrete business case for funding, and for the practical success of using green power.

Commonwealth countries can learn from each other and help move forward the fight against climate change.

Mark Dowd is a dedicated environmental activist for the organisation Operation Noah, the first Christian campaign focused exclusively on climate change. The former Roman Catholic priest talks to the RCS about climate change, God and the Commonwealth.

Transcript:

Can I ask you firstly, what does the Commonwealth mean to you?

The Commonwealth really doesn’t mean an awful lot to me, to be honest. I’ve studied a lot about international politics and I’ve got vague, hazy memories of long historical associations with colonialism, because of Britain’s role in expanding the Empire. In this day and age, we have sovereign states that are equal, and much more emphasis on the family of nations. I think really it’s more of a sense of the lasting presence of Britain’s association with its old empire, but trying to bring together this notion of family and shared values, and of course what you do have is common linguistic ties and cultural ties. But, beyond that, not an awful lot.

You personally are a passionate environmentalist. The Commonwealth Conversation recently featured a very moving monologue on our website, which was with a lady called Ursula from the Carteret Islands in the South Pacific, and she was talking about how she, and many members of her community, have had to leave and move to Papua New Guinea because the islands are becoming submerged. Do you think this is feasibly going to happen to other Commonwealth island states, such as the Maldives, if nothing is done to combat climate change?

I think it’s inevitable. I mean, even if we, at Copenhagen, capped emissions overnight, because of the inertia of climate change, the emissions of the last twenty, thirty years will still have to feed through into the atmosphere. Therefore some sea level rise, some changes to our climate, are, I think, unstoppable. The question is whether we get a grip on that, and stop it at that, or whether it becomes really really dangerous. But so many of these small islands are extremely vulnerable. I mean, even something like half a metre sea level rise could be extremely difficult. So I think preparations have to be put in place already, for discussions about what an environmental refugee is, and that we think well in advance, and don’t just wait until it happens, and then suddenly say ‘oh my goodness, this is a surprise!’. And I don’t like to sound fatalistic, but I think the people who live on these islands, and their policy-makers, must have to engage with this in a very realistic way.

So do you think therefore that climate change should be the number one priority for Commonwealth leaders in the foreseeable future, over anything else?

Yes, because, in a sense, we’ve got into this habit of thinking that the environment is just another subject, even if it’s an important one, it’s just another item on the stage. Whereas, in fact, the environment is the stage. If you have a world where there are floods and drought and tornadoes, and completely unpredictable weather, it’s almost impossible to plan or do anything. And so, the difficulty of this- as Al Gore said in his wonderful film, An Inconvenient Truth, this is a challenge to our moral imagination. We need imagination, because we aren’t in that place yet, but we have to see what it might be like. And it’s moral because of the fact that we have moral obligations to people who aren’t born yet, to people we’ve never met. And these are enormous challenges to us, but I think they make some of the pressing issues of today rather insignificant.

You’re also well known in the United Kingdom as a commentator on religious affairs. Do you think that issues like the environment and climate change can act as a really good catalyst for people of different faiths to unite together?

A Muslim friend of mine said to me recently ‘What’s the point in arguing about the battle over the Koran and the Bible if we’re both twenty feet underwater?’. In a sense, it is the great equalising issue. And the fact of the matter is also that some religions have historically in the past three or four hundred years found engaging with this subject difficult. There is a tendency to have a knee-jerk response that says ‘oh, it’s a green issue’ or ‘oh, those environmentalists, they’re all a bit wacky’ and ‘aren’t they all pagans?’. I think, in a sense, what all the religions of the world have got to do is go back to their own basics, their own scriptures, and see that care for God’s creation, and being in balance with it, is an absolutely core part of the DNA of their faith. It’s not some extra additional little thing you can tag on, it’s absolutely central.

This short film features young people from Commonwealth countries urging their leaders to take action on climate change at the 2009 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Trinidad and subsequently at the Copenhagen UN climate change summit.

This post was written by Hugh Craft, a senior Australian diplomat and former Director of Political Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat (1979-88)

An international intergovernmental organisation, like the Commonwealth, can be assessed as performing well (or badly) on the basis of two factors: functionality, how it performs in fulfilling its prescribed mandate(s); and outcomes, its results, actions, consequences and the value of its products.

As to functional integrity, the modern Commonwealth’s only prescribed ‘mandate’ is to work for the peaceful resolution of conflict, democratic governance and the rule of law, sustainable economic and social development.

The best indicator of success is that these principles are still relevant to the aspirations of its member states. Yet, strangely, some serious threats to the Commonwealth’s effective future come from member states themselves.

• First, member governments perpetuate outdated and uneven budgetary arrangements, largely unchanged in 60 years and dependent on the British. Key members, developed and developing alike, need to accept greater responsibility for providing their fair share of funding.
• Second, and related, is the relatively recent emphasis by developing countries on constant reviews of the Secretariat, resulting in skewed priorities and fewer resources in the field.
• Third, the Commonwealth needs robust leadership, both from individuals and governments within its ranks. This includes a progressive, imaginative and bold Secretariat, sometimes adventurous in the spirit of Sonny Ramphal (former Secretary-General).

If the Commonwealth wants to attract funding, it needs to constantly lift its performance and maintain a keen sense of focus. But leadership is also needed from governments who understand the value and utility of Commonwealth diplomacy and are prepared to use it.

As to performance, the Commonwealth’s record is mixed but mainly positive. That it exercised a major positive role in South Africa and Zimbabwe in the 1980s is undisputed.  Similarly, its contribution in support of democratic institutions in the Maldives, Uganda, Tonga, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Zanzibar and Guyana are all good examples.

Furthermore, its continuing leadership on small states and its intellectual and political contribution to world economic and trade initiatives are widely recognised.

However, the seeming incapacity of the Commonwealth to play any significant role in critical issues involving member states and which pose major security concerns to the international community remains a major negative. These include the virtual ‘no go’ areas such as the ongoing disputes between India and Pakistan, the civil war in Sri Lanka and the recalcitrant Cyprus problem. Similarly, lingering unresolved issues such as the rehabilitation of Zimbabwe and affirming a constructive role for CMAG as its ‘watchdog’ especially in Pakistan and Fiji, remain.

New challenges bring the chance of wider relevance: its most recent members joining from unexpected sources and the threat of climate change to small island states. Who else speaks for them?

In the end, success for international organisations is judged on the practical, qualitative difference they make on the ground to people’s lives and prospects. There is a renewed interest in multilateralism that provides the Commonwealth with opportunities to prove itself again. The ‘moment’ needs to be grasped to sustain the Commonwealth’s relevance and value into the 21^st century.

Young people from around the Commonwealth gathered in London to debate what the Commonwealth could do to combat climate change.

Speaking earlier in the summit, Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Ransford Smith, said: “long before it was fashionable, the Commonwealth entered the debate on climate change.”

Referring to concerns raised about rising sea levels by the then president of the Maldives, he recalled:

“An expert group was established [in 1987] and a flush of early political work by the Commonwealth helped to raise the international profile of climate change and sea-level rise concerns.”

How can the Commonwealth help tackle this issue today?

H.E. Dr Msayeedur Khan, Bangladesh High Commissioner, talks about the impact of global warming on his country

Transcript

We have recently been affected by two successive cyclones, Cyclone ‘Sidr’ and Cyclone ‘Aila’. And we have had many other natural calamities like this in the past, because of this global warming-up, due to climate change. Bangladesh is going to be the worst sufferer in the world, so we are very much concerned about this problem, and we believe this is not only our problem, this is a global problem. So, it needs to be solved globally.

This situation has been created by the carbon emissions and other things, so, if you analyse critically, Bangladesh contributed very little to it, maybe nothing, compared to the industrialised countries. So, I feel strongly that it is a moral responsibility of the world community to handle this problem, to tackle this problem, to solve it. That is why the campaign about climate change and it’s consequences, we are very much engaged in it, Bangladesh is doing its best for the adaptation to this situation, and in future how we can tackle this situation, and we are very much concerned about it.

But we alone cannot solve this problem, so I appreciate the British government’s role in this context; they are already helping us through DFID. The British government also advocates for the developed countries, particularly Bangladesh, so we are grateful to them, and it’s better for the British government to play a more effective role in the coming Copenhagen conference. I hope the world community will come to a consensus, to save the millions of unfortunate people who will be homeless if nothing is done at this moment.

The group Ladysmith Black Mambazo represents the traditional culture of South Africa. In a short interview conducted with the RCS as part of the Commonwealth Conversation, Albert Mazibuko told us what the Commonwealth means to him.

Transcript:

Bringing people together through music is an important way of breaking down barriers and uniting people, and I wonder whether you can just expand a little bit on that on the musical side- why you think that’s an important thing to do?

That is very important, because when people come together they can accomplish many things, they can share ideas, improve things, and make this world we are living in a peaceful world. It’s what we believe, because through music we encourage people to stay in peace with one another.

Today we live in a fast-paced world, yet Ladysmith Black Mambazo are strongly focused on Zulu history- just recently celebrating Shaka Zulu in your most recent album. Why do you think it’s important to preserve these local traditions?

I think it’s very important, because it makes people know who they are. If you cherish your culture and all that is surrounding you, you become a better person. When you mention Shaka- Shaka was the person who was uniting people. We were always inspired by his story.

Your music has a strong moral message; you have been outspoken on subjects like fair-trade. Why do you think that’s an important thing that the world, and perhaps even the Commonwealth nations, should be focusing on?

I think they should focus on something like that, as you say; people should not be cruel with one another, and when it comes to trade, they should trade fairly, and this would improve everybody’s lives.

Commonwealth leaders are meeting in a month’s time in Trinidad. If you could say one thing to world and Commonwealth leaders, what would you say?

I would tell them that they should do their best to improve people’s lives.

This post was written by Richard Bourne, Associate Fellow of the Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit.

One thing that unites the Commonwealth is salt water, and one crisis that nearly all Commonwealth states are facing is a crash in marine fish stocks. With only six landlocked states out of our 53, and islands the majority, it is high time that our global expertise was focused on protecting and rebuilding our fisheries.

I and Mark Collins, Director of the Commonwealth Foundation, have just edited “From Hook to Plate” a collection of up to the minute essays on the state of marine fisheries from a Commonwealth perspective. Copies are available from the Foundation at Marlborough House, London. These fisheries are important in two ways.

The deep sea fisheries are being robbed and over-exploited, so that it is estimated that off Africa alone the illegal fishing is taking $1billion a year by value.

But there is another issue – the state of inshore and reef fisheries, on which families and subsistence fishers depend for a living. In Mozambique, for example, 40 per cent of animal protein is supplied from such fish. In Pacific islands the comparable number can be 80 per cent. And these fisheries too are vulnerable to over-fishing, pollution, sand mining, and inappropriate tourist and hotel developments.

Mark and I are hoping that these issues will be taken up at the Trinidad summit, in the context of food security and the impact of climate change on the oceans. We would like to see a Ministerial task force, a special fisheries conference, and a voluntary fund to help small island states in particular with their capacity building in fisheries.

There is a lot that can be done. The Commonwealth can help crack down on illegal and unregulated fishing, especially in the excusive economic zones of member states. Recently a New Zealand naval vessel arrested a Taiwanese fishing boat in Tongan waters, and $2.5M compensation has been demanded. European Union boats are not guilt-free either.

For nearshore fisheries there are now good examples of recuperation, with states like Samoa and Belize blazing a trail with Marine Protected Areas which allow species to recover.

When people ask what the Commonwealth is good at or good for in the 21st century, you only have to look at a world atlas to see one of the answers. It is to save the world’s fish, and the communities which depend on them.

Ursula Rakova describes the effects of climate change on her island community. She comes from the Carterets, a series of tiny islands found 86 kilometres to the north east of mainland Papua New Guinea.

The people of the Carteret Islands are the world’s first climate change refugees. Rising sea levels have cut one of the small islands in half. Vegetable gardens and drinking water supplies have been contaminated by sea water.

With Commonwealth countries like the Maldives and Bangladesh similarly low lying, is the issue of climate change refugees one the association needs to tackle head on?

Ursula Rakova Transcript

My name is Ursula Rakova, I come from Papua New Guinea, but I was born on the Carterets, in the Southwest Pacific. I am here because my elders and my community have given me a huge task, to come in and talk to you about what is happening on my island, and what climate change is doing on our island and destroying our lives. My work involves organising our people, moving them from the island to the mainland, because we need to move our people to safe and secure grounds, because of what climate change is doing to us on the island. We are being forced to move from our homeland to the mainland to set up our lives and make sure that we are growing our own food to sustain our lives.

 I want to make sure that my people have a future life for the generations to come. I would say to people that believe climate change is not happening, if you have the heart to feel that you are flesh and blood? To you it is a choice of lifestyle. For us, who are already suffering the impact of climate change and rising sea levels, it is a choice of life and death, because if we do not move, we are going to be drowned. And we are already losing our homelands. I think you do not need to question whether this is climate change or not. You should be able to put yourself in our shoes, and maybe travel to our islands; we invite you to travel to our islands and see it for yourself.

My fear for the future is that if we are not supported by rich countries so that they are able to give us funds to build more houses for our families to move into, my people will be left in the open, we will be victims of climate change. My other fear is that if the leaders of the world do not come to an agreement and come up to sign a good agreement, that they will be using their moral judgement, and that they understand that other people living on outer islands or small atolls in the Pacific, who are facing similar hardships and problems, if they do not come up with a good solution in the Copenhagen meeting, my people will drown. Islands in the Pacific and elsewhere in the world will disappear, within the next twenty years. We will all lose our homeland, and this is my fear, that we are going to lose our ancestral homes and this is human rights, it is abusing our right to live in our ancestral homeland.

Climate change is regularly mentioned in the news, and the frequency will increase as we approach the Copenhagen conference in December. This international summit is charged with coming up with a plan to replace the 1997 ‘Kyoto Protocol’ – which set voluntary targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. A new plan is urgently required – we used to think that climate change was about the future, it’s now clear it’s a problem of the present and that huge numbers of people are suffering.

A new report estimates that around 300,000 people die each year due to climate change, with a further 300 million adversely affected. (Climate Change, Global Humanitarian Forum Geneva 2009). Amongst those affected are the people of the small island nations in the Pacific, living in a region comprising nearly a third of the world’s surface area. They have become one of the front lines of climate change.

Meg Munn recently led a small Commonwealth Parliamentary Association delegation to study the effects climate change is having on some of the smallest countries of the world. The group visited Kiribati, Tonga, Vanuatu and Tuvalu - all members of the Commonwealth. Tuvalu is small with a population of 11,000. Kiribati has a population of 98,000, the Tongans number around 110,000, while Vanuatu is much the biggest with a population around 230,000.

Both Tuvalu and Kiribati comprise a number of low-lying islands, much more vulnerable to the effects of the weather than large continental landmasses. While extreme events in the UK, such as flooding, receive extra government resources and are regarded as wake up calls about climate change, in the Pacific extreme weather brings death, severe hardship and can mean the end of a village community.

Many people of the islands told the study delegation about how the effects of climate change are making their daily life much more difficult. Some were angry that they suffer the effects of the increase in greenhouse gas emissions, whilst having contributed virtually none themselves. Experts at the University of the South Pacific described it as one of the most profound issues across the Pacific.

A boat ride across choppy waters took the group to Marou on Emau: a small island in Vanuatu. The village is built on a promontory and Daniel Kaltava, a provincial councillor, showed us how the land is being eroded. Already the village relies on harvested rainwater as their ground water has been contaminated by the rising sea. Funds from international organisations have provided reinforcement for the coastline, but the villagers live with the fear that a storm could destroy the defences lining the coast.

The Pacific islands are relatively poor and less able to cope with the extreme weather that is becoming more frequent. Their economies are shaped by the changes brought by climate change - changes setting back attempts at sustainable economic development. Local people lack the resources needed to be resilient to these new weather events.

It is often portrayed as an issue of the sea rising, with the low-lying islands disappearing under water. But long before that the people will have had to move; already in Vanuatu one small island’s population has been relocated. Rising salty seawater contaminates the drinking water, meaning that rainwater has to be collected. On the main island of Tuvalu, Funafuti, the local council confirmed that families are currently rationed to six buckets of water each morning and evening.

Crucially over time the land becomes saturated with salty water, making it impossible to grow food. At the moment around 70 - 80% of the people on these islands are reliant upon agriculture. In Tuvalu the island now regularly experiences high tides leading to flooding. How can a small farmer keep animals or sow crops when fertile soils and freshwater are contaminated with salt from rising seas?

Having to import food means costs increase, putting pressure on the economy of these small nations. Across the South Pacific the issue of food security has risen in importance. Experts from the Vanuatuan Metrological office stated that their consultation on climate change showed this to be the number one issue for local people.

Does it really matter if these people have to leave their islands? The Prime Minister of Kiribati is already publicly talking about his people having to move. If left unabated climate change refuges will increase in numbers ? not just in the Pacific region but also across Africa, north India and Bangladesh. Whether due to rising seawater or draught, the inability to grow food will force people on the move.

Pressure will grow for the larger countries in the Pacific to take in climate change refugees from the smaller island nations. But the reality is that no Pacific nation will be unaffected, no matter how large. More than half the population of the islands of the region live within 1.5 km of the shore. A regional organisation, which maps climate change, showed us that within 20 years heavily populated areas of many nations in the region would be uninhabitable.

Some of these islands have begun to prepare for the future. For instance Vanuatu has prepared a National Adaptation Programme for Action, but due to lack of funding has not been able to implement much. It’s important the UK supports the Pacific people as they try and adapt to a future determined by the changeable weather, changeable because of our actions in pumping out gas emissions. These communities are poor and vulnerable; they are victims of climate change.

The people of these islands welcomed the study group, and were open about the devastating effects that climate change is having on their lives. The study group encouraged them to take an active part in the deliberations in Copenhagen ? their experience has to be heard and acted upon. The urgency of the situation in the Pacific should not be missed. It has been said that the Pacific is ?the canary in the coalmine? warning the world of future disasters

Photo: The island of Funafuti, Tuvalu’s main island, from the air showing how low-lying it is.