I’ve just come out of a fascinating Commonwealth Conversation on climate change. We had some of the world’s leading experts on climate change around the table to discuss how the Commonwealth could add value in the global efforts to promote sustainability. The discussion was held under the Chatham House Rule so I cannot say who said what but I did want to flag up a few key things that emerged.

Perhaps because it was a bunch of climate experts, everyone seemed to agree that there was real potential for the Commonwealth to engage more in this area. But, again not surprisingly, we didn’t quite agree on where exactly the emphasis should be.

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Apologies to anyone who has wondered why I haven’t posted anything on the Director’s Blog for 6 weeks. I’ve been away on holiday (twice!) and then caught-up with various Conversation-related things. We are now approaching the half way point between when we launched the Conversation and CHOGM and things are hotting up both online and offline.

If you look around the website, you can already see some interesting points of difference emerging. For example, the question about the role of the monarchy is clearly one which people are passionate about. So too it seems is the question of what the Commonwealth should be doing in places like Sri Lanka.

But, for me, one of the most intriguing questions about the Commonwealth’s future has been thrown into sharp relief over the last few days. Have a look at the video clips from the Australian and British Foreign Ministers. One quite clearly believes that protecting and promoting democracy should be the Commonwealth’s key priority, while the other thinks it should be around climate change.

I am sure both Ministers think both issues are important but it’s where they place emphasis that is intriguing. I really do think that this is one of the most pressing questions for the Commonwealth: does it focus on what Stephen Smith calls its ‘core business’ or does it forge political momentum on climate change as David Miliband would have it?

What’s promising is that two important players are taking the Commonwealth so seriously. The challenge now is to work out how the Commonwealth can best respond to their challenges in either or both areas. Any views?

I promise to be more regular in my blog entries. Watch this space!

The gender and age breakdowns of our polling results have just arrived in my inbox. They can be found here and make for some interesting reading.

Perhaps unsurprisingly older generations in Canada think the organisation is a more valuable to their country than young people (43% versus 27%).

But this trend is not repeated in Australia (57% to 62%), Malaysia (49% to 61%) or South Africa (37% to 43%) where young people are much more enthusiastic about the significance of the Commonwealth. This is potentially good news for the Commonwealth because it shows that support for the association is not just found amongst the older generation. Since our polls only ask relatively simple questions, its hard to know why younger folk in these countries (but not the others) are more supportive of the Commonwealth. Any suggestions welcome.

However, more worryingly, young people in all our polls showed more ignorance of activities undertaken by the Commonwealth. Not such good news.

Intriguingly, women seem to view the Commonwealth as more important than their male counterparts.

When asked which region or world grouping they thought most important to their country, 27% of Australian women responded ‘the Commonwealth’ compared with only 18% of men. The same was seen in India (47% to 33%) and Malaysia (41% to 24%).

These gender differences seem sizable. The Commonwealth markets itself as an association of equals, the Games are ‘friendly’ and the Secretariat certainly doesn’t have the macho bombast of say NATO. Maybe these stats are a representation of this.

I wonder if these variables between countries are down to latent perception of the Commonwealth or particular work the organisation is doing?

Are young Malaysian’s generally more engaged with world affairs than their parents? And are lots of Indian women looking forward to the 2010 Delhi Games? As with most poll results we are left with more questions than answers.

It looks like our polling results have caused a bit of a stir in Australia Continue reading…

Today I had an opinion piece published in the Globe and Mail, a Canadian Newspaper, about what our poll results mean there… Continue reading…

Seven opinion polls around the Commonwealth kick off the Conversation.

Before we started a big conversation about the future of the Commonwealth, we at the RCS thought we’d first find out what people know and think about it. And wanting to be thorough, we commissioned nationally representative surveys in seven countries: Australia, Canada, Great Britain, India, Jamaica, Malaysia, and South Africa. The results are just in! Continue reading…