King Charles has joined leaders of 56 nations — most of them former British colonies — for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which opened today in Samoa’s capital Apia. Two dozen of the Commonwealth’s nations are small island states, making the threat of rising seas and worsening tropical storms a priority at this year’s summit. A new report finds the Commonwealth’s three wealthiest members — Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom — are responsible for 60% of its greenhouse gas emissions, even though they comprise just 6% of the Commonwealth’s population. Ahead of the talks, Tuvalu’s Prime Minister Feleti Teo called on nations to back a fossil fuel nonproliferation treaty.

Prime Minister Feleti Teo: “To put it plainly, it is a death sentence — not phrases that I use lightly — for us, Tuvalu, if larger nations continue to increase their emission levels. … A fossil fuel treaty will be a global mechanism essential for managing a just transition away from coal, oil and gas.”