Commonwealth backs Copenhagen

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Trinidad and Tobago has also agreed to push for a substantial fund to help the nations most affected by climate change to adapt, along with support for those whose fragile economies are most at risk from curbing emissions.

The fund will build on the US$10 billion a year for the first three years from 2010 which has been suggested by prime minister Gordon Brown.

The Commonwealth has held back from urging for a final, binding deal from the Copenhagen talks next month, instead backing the proposed "two-step' process that is likely to see targets, and penalties for countries that do not meet them, agreed but not signed off till next year.

But the agreement that the Copenhagen summit must set targets or be deemed a failure gives significant momentum as world leaders head to next month's meeting, which is suppsed to set the next phase of climate change responses to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

There are 53 states in the Commonwealth, which covers a third of the world's population.

The deal was announced in a landmark press conference involving Trinidad and Tobago prime minister Patrick Manning, Australian leader Kevin Rudd, Commonwealth secretary-general Kamalesh Sharma, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon and Danish prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen.

Mr Ban and Mr Rasmussen were at CHOGM to stress the importance of firm results from Copenhagen and urge leaders to attend.

Mr Rudd, who headed a contact group of CHOGM leaders to discuss the group's positon, said the agreement was"significant and substantial" and would provide consensus and momentum and support for a substantial outcome in Copehnagen.

"What the commonwealth has done today is throw its full weight behind ther process ... the [UN] officials level process has in recent months reached something of an impasse.

"Specifically, it seeks to provide immediate financial supoport to the small island states, the most vulnerable states around the world today, as they deal with the immediate challenges of adaptation and mitigation in the face of climate change.

"What we are seeking to do at Copenhagen is to bring about a comprehensive, substantial, operationally-binding agreement. As the prime ministerr of Denmark has repeatedly said, one agreement in two steps. The first step is the one which we have just described and one that then leads to a full, legally binding document in 2010."

He said 10 per cent of the proposed assistance fund would be set aside for the most vulnerable island states, who make up a large proportion of nations in the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth had not agreed on targets for cutting emissions, as that was a process that would be thrashed out at Copenhagen.

"The function of this meeting here of the Commonwealth has been two-fold on climate change. One is to debate among ourselves the support which should be extended tom the leaders level process driven by the prime minister of Denmark, and it has done that. The second objective we have had here is to deal with the complex challenge of climate change finance."