Leaders meet at Commonwealth summit with slavery reparations on agenda
Commonwealth leaders convened in Samoa to discuss climate change and reparations for Britain's role in transatlantic slavery.
APIA, Samoa — The leaders of the Commonwealth grouping of nations met on Thursday ahead of a summit in the South Pacific nation of Samoa that will feature talks on climate change and the question of reparations for Britain’s role in transatlantic slavery.
King Charles, the head of the grouping, is among the representatives of 56 countries, most with roots in Britain’s empire, who are attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) that began on Monday.
More than half of the Commonwealth’s members are small nations, many of them low-lying islands at risk from rising sea levels caused by climate change.
Among them is Tuvalu, whose climate change minister, Maina Vakafua Talia, urged the grouping to strive for the Paris Accord’s warming goal of 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F), calling new fossil fuel projects a “death sentence” for his country.
“We call on our wealthier partners to align themselves with this goal and not fan the flames of the climate crisis with fossil fuel expansion,” he said.
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