Environment

Climate change is perhaps the greatest challenge of our age

‘The Commonwealth knows painfully well about climate change. It sees it in shrinking rainforests ... in dwindling fish stocks in the Atlantic and other oceans, in a thawing of the tundra in northern Canada, in encroaching deserts in northern Nigeria, in flooded lowlands in Bangladesh, and in rising sea levels around Tuvalu and the Maldives.’
- Commonwealth Secretary - General Kamalesh Sharma 

Climate change is perhaps the greatest challenge of our age. Its effects are already being felt by the poorest nations and peoples of the Earth. Many Commonwealth countries – dozens of small, low-income and developing states – rank among the most vulnerable to the disasters it will hasten.

For more than 20 years the Commonwealth, whose members are spread over five continents across northern and southern hemispheres, has been leading the way in widening awareness and advocating for action on climate change. The association, representing one-third of the world’s population, brings together governments, partners and individuals to share experiences, knowledge and expertise, helping to broaden dialogue and to strengthen international negotiations.

‘We are in no doubt that climate change will have far reaching and substantial consequences. All countries will be faced with the need to adapt to rapid change, with attendant costs – in many cases the resulting disruptions and tensions are likely to be considerable.’
‘Climate Change: Meeting the Challenge’ by Martin Holdgate, Commonwealth Group of Experts (1989)

Leading the way

In 1987, a year before the United Nations established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the scientific panel charged with evaluating the risks of global warming, Commonwealth Heads of Government commissioned a landmark scientific study on the effects of variations to the world’s climate. Led by eminent British scientist Martin Holdgate and published in 1989, the study warned of the calamitous risks of inaction, including ‘severe tropical storms, floods, droughts or extremes of heat’, concluding that the poor would be the ‘main victims’ of a rise in worldwide temperature. That same year, leaders agreed the Langkawi Declaration on Environment – a powerful statement which went on to influence the Rio Earth Summit Declaration of 1992, which still guides the agenda on environmentally sustainable development.

‘The current threat to the environment, which is a common concern of all mankind, stems essentially from past neglect in managing the natural environment and resources. The environment has been degraded by decades of industrial and other forms of pollution, including unsafe disposal of toxic wastes, the burning of fossil fuels, nuclear testing and non-sustainable practices in agriculture, fishery and forestry.’
- Langkawi Declaration on Environment, 21 October 1989

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