(Source: Reuters)

Leaders of the group of Commonwealth nations meet in the South Pacific nation of Samoa on Thursday ahead of a summit to discuss climate change and the issue of reparations for Britain’s role in transatlantic slavery.

The group’s president, King Charles, is among representatives of 56 countries, most of them based in the British empire, attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which begins on Monday.

More than half of Commonwealth members are small nations, many of which are low-lying islands at risk from rising sea levels caused by climate change.

These include Tuvalu, whose climate change minister, Maina Dokufua Talia, has called for the Paris Agreement to push for a 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) warming target, calling new fossil fuel projects a “death sentence” for his country. qualifies.

Leaders of the islands, where climate change is the main topic of discussion, are expected to issue a statement on ocean protection at the summit.

He added that Zambia is among African countries warning of the increasing impacts of climate change, including impacts on food security.

A Samoan chief told Charles on Thursday he would be shown the impact of rising sea levels forcing people inland.

Ocean temperatures in the Pacific Islands are rising at three times the global rate, leaving their people “uniquely exposed” to the impact of rising sea levels, United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres said.

Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa welcomed leaders gathered at a banquet, including Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, wearing a colorful “bula” shirt, while his British counterpart Keir Starmer wore a dark suit.