COMMONWEALTH DAY 2008 - THE ENVIRONMENT OUR FUTURE

That this House notes Commonwealth Day on 10th March; further notes the importance of the theme for 2008, which is The Environment Our Future; believes the Commonwealth is well placed to provide leadership on the global environment, being an organisation of great diversity which includes countries of different sizes in all continents and in arctic, temperate and tropical zones, with varying levels of environmental vulnerability, economic development and energy use, but a shared commitment to human welfare, political rights and parliamentary democracy; commends the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) UK Branch for its November 2007 seminar Climate Change, Tackling Causes, Managing Impacts which was attended by 85 parliamentarians from Commonwealth and G8+5 countries, and which presented its conclusions to the Bali climate conference; and recognises that special events like the climate change seminar are reinforced and followed up by the CPA UK Branch's annual programme of inter-parliamentary exchanges and international parliamentary strengthening seminars.