Climate Change, Terrorism, To Dominate Commonwealth Summit Talks

The two leaders expressed long-term commitment to work together for greater security and prosperity of their countries.

The Queen said she had come to live in Malta with her husband Prince Philip in 1949 when he was stationed there with the Royal Navy, the same year the Commonwealth was founded.

Queen Elizabeth II sits at a gala dinner during the CHOGM Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, in Attard, Malta, Friday, Nov. 27, 2015.

Queen Elizabeth II declared opened the 24th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta on Friday alongside a colourful ceremony attended by world leaders, gathered for pressing talks on a number topics.

AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, an avowed republican, has met the Queen for the first time at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOG) in Malta.

As expected the twin issues of terrorism and climate change formed the crux of discussions at the opening event.

“This should be part of our immediate fight”, he said.

Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain will put 5.6 million pounds ($8.4 million) toward helping small island states cope with climate change and announced a 20 million-pound investment in global funds to aid them in dealing with natural disasters as he rallied support for a climate deal in Paris next week.

Queen Elizabeth, who is the head of the organization, said that she felt “enormously proud of what the Commonwealth has achieved, and all of it within my lifetime”.

“Its civil society and education networks make it particularly well placed to complement global efforts to build counter narratives to this poisonous extremist ideology”.

It also afforded the British monarch to reminisced on her life, marriage and life as a young princess, who was newly married to a Philip, a young Naval officer serving in Malta.

This is especially so with the fact its 53 member nations span all five continents, and represent a combined population of 2.2 billion who can be regarded as one “family”.

Delivering his opening remarks as the outgoing Chair in Office of the Commonwealth, the Sri Lankan President pointed out that the issues such as sustainability, greatly emphasized during the CHOGM in Colombo in 2013, have been raised subsequently in the United Nations, thus combining the commonwealth endeavor in this regard.