Queen kicks off C’wealth summit with climate focus

Queen Elizabeth II opened the 2015 Commonwealth summit on Friday with a colourful ceremony attended by world leaders gathered for pressing talks on climate change.
The monarch, dressed in an aqua blue coat with pink flowers adorning her trademark hat, was serenaded by a harp as she arrived to a red-carpet welcome at a huge sandstone conference centre on the seafront in the Maltese capital Valletta.
As the clock ticks to a UN climate conference in Paris starting on Monday, leaders at the summit including France’s Francois Hollande, Britain’s David Cameron and the UN’s Ban Ki-moon will try to open the door to a landmark accord for limiting greenhouse gases.
"At this meeting, the Commonwealth will be charged with demonstrating leadership, often in practical ways, on an agenda of global issues," Queen Elizabeth said in her opening address on the Mediterranean island.
"I wish you every success in this endeavour."
She spoke of the Commonwealth’s potential to tackle climate change -- giving as an example the Commonwealth Canopy initiative to protect the world’s forests -- and stressed the importance of getting young people involved in the fight to slow global warming.
In a nod to the young, children took to the stage for the opening ceremony dressed up as animals and characters from each of the 53 Commonwealth countries.
Born out of the British empire, the Commonwealth of Nations brings together around a quarter of the world’s countries and a third of its population. The 24th biennial summit is due to focus on the issues of extremism and migration as well as the environment.
Among the prime ministers who took their seats in the ceremony as their flags flashed across giant screens overhead, were Canada’s new leader, Justin Trudeau, and Pakalitha Mosisili from Lesotho.
The hope is that by finding common ground in Malta -- among countries that differ enormously in terms of culture, size, GDP and diplomatic muscle -- the COP21 talks in Paris can break through a logjam of highly contentious issues.
Potential stumbling blocks in Paris abound, ranging from financing for climate-vulnerable countries to scrutiny of commitments to curb greenhouse gases and even the legal status of the planned accord.
The last attempt to get a global climate deal -- at the ill-tempered 2009 Copenhagen summit -- foundered upon divisions between rich and poor nations.