Latest content: Environment and climate change

The establishment of the Commonwealth Secretariat in 1965 emphasised the equality of all members, and gave final discouragement to the lingering sentiment that one member had a right to some predominance over others. It has enabled the Commonwealth to develop along independent lines in accordance with the interest of all its members.

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are the main mechanism by which countries communicate their ambitions and efforts in support of the Paris Agreement. Starting in 2023 and every five years thereafter, governments take stock of the implementation of the Paris Agreement, known as the global stocktake (GST). The GST holds countries accountable for their collective efforts to achieve the targets they set themselves in 2015,and tracks the progress made. Recent analysis of country NDC commitments shows that progress is not happening ‘at a pace or scale consistent with achieving’ the goals of the Paris Agreement. Urgent transformational change is needed.