Muscat discusses CHOGM, Valletta Summit with Ban Ki-moon

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed Malta's decision to place climate change at the heart of the discussions during the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM) being held in November.

During a meeting with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on the fringes of the annual United Nations General Assembly, Ban urged world leaders to support policies in favour of sustainable development and climate change.

The CHOGM will take place just a few days before leaders gather in Paris for the COP21 summit on climate change. Ban said the CHOGM meeting in Malta could provide a stronger platform for important developments on climate change.

Muscat said Malta wanted to see the CHOGM 2015 provide leadership on the matter as wide and variant views prevailed.

November will prove to be a busy month for Malta as it also prepares to host the Valletta Summit. EU member states, countries members of the Rabat and Khartoum processes, observers to the Rabat process, representatives of the African Union commission and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) commission, the United Nations (UN) and the International Office on Migration (IOM) have been invited to join the summit.

Ban said it was important for countries of origin, transit and destination to discuss the matter together as Muscat explained how the European Union had finally changed tact in its approach, making small steps to address a global phenomenon.

While admitting that Europe remained divided on the issue, he said that the continent, when compared with others, was at least acting on it and realising that it could no longer remain passive when faced by this humanitarian crisis.

Muscat added that he hoped the Valletta Summit would encourage the international community to come up with the tools and institutions to effectively address the phenomenon, sparked by the human being's wish for a better life.