Commonwealth leaders agree to set up climate change hub

Commonwealth leaders have agreed to set up a climate change hub to facilitate access to funds for the small and poor countries, a decision which is in sync with India's demand for providing adequate financial resources to developing nations to reduce green house gas emissions.
The decision to set up the hub by Commonwealth, a bloc of 53 countries, came days before world leaders meet at the crucial climate change summit in Paris eyeing an ambitious goal of significantly limiting global warming.
Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma said the leaders have also decided to set up a new mechanism to help poor countries manage debt accrued on climate management. He said nitty-gritties of the new set up was still being worked out.

He said various island nations and small countries were facing difficulty in securing financial support to bring down green house gas emissions and the hub will provide funds to them.
"These small states are often told about money but none of them know the number to dial," Sharma, the outgoing secretary general, said adding the hub will make "climate finance, a reality".
Around 30 heads of state and government including Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudea and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif participated at the Commonwealth summit which discussed ways to combat terrorism besides tackling climate change.

India was represented at the summit by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

The session on climate change was attended by UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon and French President Francois Hollande who said despite the terrible terror attack in Paris, he wanted to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to discuss climate change considering seriousness of the issue.
Hoping that a universal agreement would be reached at Paris conference, he said a couple of countries may pose hurdles in achieving the goal as they feel some of the obligations can block their development.
The French President, however, did not name the countries he was reffering to. "Man is man's worst enemy. We have seen this with terrorism and we have seen it also with climate change," he said.

Indian officials argued that the Commonwealth must not
pre-judge outcome of the negotiations leading to Paris climate conference and that commitment of the rich nations towards small islands and poor countries must go beyond the current level.
They put forth India's views on the issue during hectic parleys here maintaining that developed countries must ensure financing and technology transfer to developing countries to help them reach their target of bringing down carbon emission.
The Commonwealth countries are home to around 2.2 billion people having a geographic spread covering six continents. The grouping includes some of the world's largest, smallest, richest and poorest countries and its views will be crucial at the Paris climate conference.

Calling the Commonwealth a microcosm of international community, the UN Secretary General said the decisions taken at the grouping's summit was indicative of a positive outcome at the Paris conference which is likely to be attended by leaders of 150 countries.
"This is virtually the last political milestone before we meet in Paris. I am encouraged by such a strong commitment by Commonwealth leaders (in combating climate change)," Ban said.
Stressing on the need to arrive at a deal in Paris, he said, "We cannot delay and postpone it until tomorrow. We have to take action. All major countries -- France, Germany, UK, Japan, Canada and Australia are showing commitment for climate financing. We are going to present politically credible trajectory for USD 100 billion."

He, however, did not elaborate on it.
The UN Secretary General urged world leaders to "rise to the occasion" in achieving an agreement at the Paris conference.
British Prime Minister Cameron announced around 26 million pounds for climate projects in 25 small island states.
"Today, we have a real opportunity to get the small island states that are so vulnerable to climate change on board for an ambitious global climate change deal in Paris," he said.
"Britain is firmly committed to helping these countries deal with the effects of climate change and that's why we're announcing new support today to help protect them from the risks of climate change and to make the most of their natural maritime advantages which are so vital to their economies," Cameron said.