Commonwealth nations make first ocean declaration
As Commonwealth leaders broke new ground with an oceans declaration at talks in Samoa, the calls from some former British colonies for reparatory justice over the slave trade grew louder.
The Apia Ocean Declaration was announced during the closing session of the 27th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, and calls on all 56 Commonwealth nations to protect the ocean in the face of severe climate, pollution and over-exploitation.
More than half the Commonwealth members are small countries like Samoa, many face significant, some even existential, threats from rising seas.
The declaration focuses on recognising maritime boundaries amid sea-level rise, protecting 30 per cent of oceans and restoring degraded marine ecosystems by 2030, and urgently finalising a global plastics treaty.
Samoa Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa said in a statement that it was fitting for “our first ocean declaration” to be adopted “in the blue Pacific continent given climate change has been recognised as the single greatest threat to the security and well-being of our people”.
The Commonwealth represents a third of the world’s population, and 49 of its 56 countries have a coastline.
The organisation says 25 of its members are increasingly impacted by climate change, rising sea levels, growing temperatures and increasing ocean acidity – impacting sea life, ecosystems and the communities that depend upon them.
Mata’afa said the declaration must become “a line in the sand” for the world to collectively transform “ocean exploitation into protection and sustainable stewardship.”
While the environmental threat was foreshadowed as a predominant theme going into the summit, the transatlantic slave trade from Britain’s colonial history dominated the discourse through the opening days.
Calls from some of Britain’s former colonies for a reckoning over its role in the transatlantic slave trade was the thorniest issue at the summit.
At its height in the 18th century, Britain was the world’s biggest slave-trading nation and transported more than 3 million Africans across the Atlantic.
Its legacy is interwoven in some of the country’s richest and most revered institutions — from the Church of England to the insurance giant Lloyd’s of London to the monarchy itself.
King Charles , who attended his first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting as sovereign, said in his address on Friday history couldn’t be changed but that he understood “the most painful aspects of our past continue to resonate”.
Although he stopped short of mentioning financial reparations, which some leaders at the event urged, his remarks were seen as significant.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had entered the summit vowing the UK would not offer an apology for slavery or discuss reparations.
He left with that promise mostly intact, though the final communique called for discussion of the matter.
The 52-point official leaders statement on Saturday included a paragraph that urged a: “meaningful, truthful, respectful conversation” to build a fair future.
The communique also directed the Commonwealth secretary-general to engage governments and stakeholders in reparatory justice consultations, with a special focus on the impact on women and girls.
Earlier in the week, Starmer suggested that opening the door to a conversation about reparations could lead to “very, very long endless discussions.”
“(The communique) agrees that this is the time for conversation,” Starmer said at a press conference in Apia on Saturday.
“Let me first be clear that the slave trade, slave practice, was abhorrent, and it’s very important we start from there. Abhorrent is the right word.”
Earlier Saturday, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the Ghanaian foreign minister, was announced as the incoming secretary-general of the Commonwealth.
Botchwey, who has urged financial reparations for the past enslavement of colonised people, replaces Patricia Scotland of the United Kingdom, who had been in the post since 2016.
Antigua and Barbuda was also announced as the host for the next CHOGM in 2026.
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