Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama yesterday met the Queen and 52 Commonwealth leaders.

They were attending the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta.

It officially marked Fiji’s return to the Commonwealth after it was suspended following the 2006 takeover.

Earlier Mr Bainimarama had said that Fiji made no apology for its reform programme which saw it suspended from the Commonwealth. But he was delighted to be back in the Commonwealth.

The theme for CHOGM is ‘Adding Global Value.’

CHOGM 2015 was opened by Queen Elizabeth II at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valleta, the capital city of Malta. Fiji is expected to benefit from its  return in a number of ways.

First is climate change finance.

Commonwealth countries have pledged billions to climate action at a special session on climate change at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

Canada has promised $2.65 billion over five years to help developing countries cope with climate change.

“Canada is back and ready to play its part in combatting climate change, and this includes helping the poorest and most vulnerable countries in the world adapt. The investment announced today will help build a more environmentally sustainable future for generations to come,” said Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada in a statement.

The UK has committed £21 million for disaster management and £5.5 million for the ocean-based economy. Australia has committed $1 million for a new Commonwealth idea: a Climate Finance Access Hub.

Outgoing Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said the new pledges would help some of the most vulnerable countries in the Commonwealth. “Thirty-one of our 53 members are small states and 25 are small island developing states, which are most vulnerable to climate change.

“Many of our members are struggling to cope with the devastating effects of climate change. Islands in the Pacific and the Caribbean are having to deal with rising sea levels that could drive them from their homelands, and an onslaught of increased violent storms that is hampering their development.”

The incoming new Secretary-General is British lawyer Baroness Scotland.

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