Commonwealth foreign ministers hunkered down for talks in Malta today as the organisation moved towards clinching climate change deals that could pave the way for next week's UN environment summit.
The family of 53 nations is gathering on the Mediterranean island with a focus on reaching agreements that will open doors for wider deals at the COP21 climate talks in Paris.
The Commonwealth's biennial summit formally opens tomorrow, with countries such as Britain, Canada, India and South Africa sitting down on equal terms with tiny Caribbean island nations and developing microstates.
"The beauty of the Commonwealth is that its diversity makes it into a prototype or microcosm of the whole world," its Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said.
Maltese host Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said he was targeting strong outcomes rooted in "realism" as the organisation tackles issues of "direct concern" -- namely climate change, extremism, trade and migration issues.
Born out of the British empire, the Commonwealth of Nations brings together around a quarter of the world's countries and a third of its population. Its focus nowadays is split between democracy, development and diversity.
"The Commonwealth reflects the tensions that exist because around the same table you have some of the most developed and vulnerable economies in the world," Muscat said.
"Most other groupings either have a region or an economic standing in common."
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) runs until Sunday, a day before the COP21 talks officially start in Paris.
Speaking in London, new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had urged him to "make a real effort" at the Commonwealth's climate talks "to make sure that it is a global effort".
Queen Elizabeth II, the Head of the Commonwealth, was due to arrive in Malta later Thursday to start her state visit coinciding with the summit.
Foreign ministers were holding a second day of pre-summit talks at a coastal retreat. Britain is hoping the organisation will put pressure on the Maldives following political unrest that has rocked the Indian Ocean nation.
"The Commonwealth countries could be doing more to deliver a clear and consistent message to the Maldives about the need for a genuine political dialogue," a British government source said.
On climate change, Sharma said the summit's final statement should have a "strong political component" and would also "indicate measures which the Commonwealth is going to undertake, particularly for small and vulnerable states".
