00:00Well, the atmosphere here is really buzzing, Gemma, but as you might be able to see behind
00:06me, the weather, at least for the moment, is not playing along.
00:10We've had a bit of a downpour here in Samoa, leaving an awful lot of people drenched.
00:15But spirits are unbowed.
00:16Most people are really excited about this event.
00:19It's just absolute bedlam in the centre of Apia this morning, with motorcades zipping
00:23about, and a sense of optimism when you speak to most people here about what this event
00:28can do for Samoa.
00:30Not only is it bringing a huge infusion of people and potentially a large infusion of
00:35cash into the city centre, most people here are excited about the fact that there'll be
00:39an awful lot of media from around the world, an awful lot of leaders here.
00:43They think that that offers them a really valuable platform to talk about the issues
00:48that really matter to them.
00:49And as we heard earlier from Miles, at the top of that list is undoubtedly climate change.
00:55Tell us more about these main issues that are likely to dominate the week.
01:00When it comes to climate change, there are a couple of things that are really going to
01:03be sharply in focus.
01:04At the top of the list, possibly, is climate finance.
01:08One common complaint from a large number of developing countries in the Commonwealth,
01:12that's not just Pacific nations, but also Caribbean island nations, and of course African
01:17nations, which have a huge presence in the Commonwealth, has been that they simply can't
01:22get access to climate finance as quickly as they need it to deal with the cascading
01:27impacts that we're seeing now from climate change.
01:30So there's a frustration that when they go through big international bodies, it's simply
01:35too long, too laborious and too clunky a process.
01:39Now the Commonwealth has played a role here.
01:40It's mobilised some $350 million in climate finance.
01:44It wants to mobilise another $500 million.
01:47So I think it's likely that developed nations who are a part of the Commonwealth, like Australia,
01:53like the United Kingdom, and like Canada, just for example, are probably going to come
01:57under some pressure here at Chogom, not just over their fossil fuel subsidies, but also
02:03over that issue of climate finance.
02:06Perhaps there might be some demands for countries like Australia to step up with greater contributions
02:11to some of those international funds.
02:13Now yesterday, the ABC spoke to Patricia Scotland.
02:16She's the current and outgoing Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, and she said that climate
02:22change was really the number one issue on its agenda for this meeting here in Samoa.
02:27Let's take a listen to what she had to say.
02:30The thing I know is that we have a choice.
02:36We can either work together, swim together, or we can drown separately.
02:46Has the controversy over Lydia Thorpe's protest in front of King Charles in Canberra caught
02:50attention in Samoa, Stephen?
02:52Yeah, it has caught a bit of attention.
02:54I don't want to overstate it.
02:56I don't think it's a hot topic discussion around many villages here, but some Samoans
03:00on social media, for example, have picked up on that, and it has kick-started perhaps
03:05another interesting conversation around colonialism and where Samoa and the Pacific fits more broadly
03:11in that piece.
03:12Now, as you mentioned, Samoa has made it clear that this is not its main priority at the
03:16meeting, that climate change is at the top of the agenda.
03:19But inevitably, these issues will bubble up again, and I think the protest from Lydia
03:23Thorpe will possibly give it a little bit more prominence.
03:27The question, of course, is what can the Commonwealth or what can the United Kingdom do about it?
03:32Some African nations in particular have called on the United Kingdom and others to actually
03:37make reparations.
03:39That issue seems to be a bit of a non-starter, because Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister,
03:43has effectively ruled that out, along with any sort of formal apology.
03:48But all three African candidates to replace Patricia Scotland have said that they are
03:52in favour of reparatory justice of some kind.
03:55So even if it's only at the end of this meeting, I think this issue is likely to be raised
04:00by Commonwealth leaders.
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