Latest content: Small states

A new online resource that supports climate change law-making is to be unveiled at COP23 in Bonn this week. The Law and Climate Change Toolkit is aimed at government policy makers responsible for developing laws that help implement the Paris Agreement.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has promised to ramp up advocacy for the reform of development assistance rules which member states say are restricting aid to storm ravished countries in the Caribbean.

Secretary-General Patricia Scotland praised the resilience and resolve of Antiguans and Barbudans as she attended an independence day celebration and visited a shelter for those affected by Hurricane Irma.

Secretary-General Patricia Scotland is urging the international community to keep devastated islands in the Caribbean high on its agenda as she heads to Antigua and Barbuda today.

Ambassadors of Commonwealth countries in Geneva say the Secretariat’s Small States Office gives them a voice on the world stage. 

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland today expressed solidarity and concern for the Government and people of Vanuatu following the Manaro volcano eruption on the island of Ambae, and assured them of her efforts to rally whatever support may be needed to respond to the emergency.

Commonwealth ministers have met on the margins of the United Nations to discuss the decades-old border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela.

The Commonwealth and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development have strengthened their links after signing a cooperation agreement.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland is convening a group of specialists from across the Commonwealth to examine how to “coordinate, create and shape a task force” to assist with mobilising international assistance

The Secretary-General and a team of specialists from the Commonwealth are in Apea, Samoa, to attend meetings in advance of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting

Pacific states have a strong foundation on which to build to ensure they are on a path towards sustainable development by 2050, according to a report by the Commonwealth Secretariat.

This year the Commonwealth’s Climate Finance Access Hub began deploying experts to ministries of finance and environment to help developing countries access the billions of dollars pledged for effective climate action.

A blog by Jeff Ardron, Adviser on Ocean Governance at the Commonwealth.

A handbook to help small and less-developed countries benefit from improved digital trade has been published by the Commonwealth Secretariat.

New opportunities for Jamaica to benefit from emerging markets and Brexit have been set out in two key publication by the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Global warming could have a devastating impact on Caribbean countries, according to experts from the Commonwealth Secretariat and across the region.

A new National Export Strategy (NES) will see the Caribbean state diversify and increase imports and exports between now and 2021

Deep beneath the ocean, the seabed holds rich deposits of minerals: gold, silver, cobalt, copper, nickel, zinc, as well as lesser known chemical elements like tellurium - used to make solar panels.

In a wide ranging discussion, the prime minister spoke about ways in which the Commonwealth could help The Bahamas, especially around protecting marine life and marine conservation.

Landmark maritime boundary agreements reached between the Caribbean island nations of Barbados, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines with the support of the Commonwealth, were formally signed last week.

African, Caribbean and Pacific countries are to benefit from the extension of an innovative aid for trade initiative which embeds trade advisers in national ministries and regional organisations.

A partnership between the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Cloudburst Foundation will give countries access to revolutionary science and technology approaches to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has said.

Insurers, multinationals, investment banks and hedge fund managers were among the global financiers expressing support for the Commonwealth’s Regenerative Development to Reverse Climate Change (RDRCC) initiative on 27 June at Marlborough House in London.