The term ‘rising sea levels’ has real expression in the Maldives and Tuvalu. These and other low-lying states are effectively threatened with submergence. The tides have already risen, and wholesale migration is a possible response. The front lines have already been breached. Elsewhere in the Commonwealth, we see the effects of climate change in poor crop yields, destructive storms, shrinking rainforests, dwindling fish stocks, thawing tundra, encroaching desert, flooded lowlands. It is an existential emergency, in that it is concerned with our very existence. Typically and ironically, it is the countries with the least carbon footprints which are fighting for sheer survival. The world knows this only too well. Last week it was reminded again, with the publication of the Global Humanitarian Forum’s report entitled Climate Change: The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis. Climate change is already responsible for 300,000 deaths a year, the report said, and it directly affects 300 million people, mostly in the developing world. Unless radical action is taken, it argued, these figures can only rise. Within just 25 years, it estimated that climate change will push 20 million more people into poverty, with 75 million more people being displaced. Cavilling about figures is not the issue: it is incontrovertible that we are face to face with an incipient catastrophe. These are stark reminders of the importance of recognising today’s World Environment Day theme: ‘Your planet needs you, UNite to combat climate change’. Climate change is a core development challenge, and one which can only be tackled by countries pulling collectively to achieve shared global solutions. Fortunately, consensus is building in this direction. Within the Commonwealth, climate change is central to our concerns. In 2007, Commonwealth Heads of Government demonstrated their commitment to making a difference, by agreeing to the Lake Victoria Commonwealth Climate Change Action Plan. The Plan has seen significant results in supporting developing country negotiations on climate change, using the Commonwealth civil society network (statisticians, geographers, foresters, meteorologists, and others), launching new programmes on land management and forestation, and studies on the exports of agricultural produce, and supporting the management of natural disasters. Further, the practical response to climate change has also been discussed by the wider Commonwealth family: governments, officials, parliamentarians, youth leaders, human rights officials, and others all have a role to play. The Commonwealth recognises that all nations have different interests and objectives, and require freedom to shape their own development agenda. And it believes that it is possible to develop beneficial outcomes for all, providing we share the spirit of co-operation and a common goal. It expressed this in the Marlborough House Statement adopted by its leaders in 2008, which sets down the principles of inclusiveness, legitimacy, responsibility, transparency and effectiveness that should inform the new paradigm of international environmental governance. Negotiations are currently underway in Bonn, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to discuss and shape the international agreements that will be made in Copenhagen later this year. Those debating in Germany should pay heed to the lessons of last week’s report, and respond to the call of today’s World Environment Day theme. We wish to see a strong climate change agreement that addresses the concerns of the poorest and most vulnerable of people – for it is they who in general contribute the least to the way our climate changes, and who suffer the most. Some of the other key outcomes which must be pursued in Copenhagen include new mechanisms for financing the preservation and regeneration of forests, that will deliver genuine development benefits both nationally and locally. We also need to see new frameworks emerge that will enable small and low-emitting developing countries to create their own low-emission economies, and remain competitive. These countries do not just need finance: they also need the technology, skills and institutions which will help them to adapt to changing circumstances well into the future. Providing we stay united and true to the principles of collective responsibility and equity, and never lose sight of the goal of achieving genuine sustainable development and the alleviation of poverty, we can be hopeful of tackling the climate change challenge. I am heartened to see that this year’s theme for World Environment Day captures this collaborative spirit. (The above was a Message by Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma on World Environment Day 2009