Leaders, top diplomats gather in Samoa to attend Commonwealth meeting

Leaders and delegations from several nations of the Commonwealth have arrived in Samoa, an island nation, to attend the Heads of Government Meeting.

The meeting is scheduled on Friday and Saturday, which will be presided over by King Charles, the symbolic head of the international association who reached the capital Apia along with Queen Camilla. He will preside over his first Commonwealth meeting since assuming the throne two years ago.

The 56 member nations that make up the Commonwealth will discuss climate change, its effects on member countries and ocean protection. They are also expected to endorse a landmark Oceans Declaration to make sweeping commitments on ocean protection.

Leaders of Commonwealth countries meet every two years for the meeting hosted by different member countries on a rotating basis. Since 1971, a total of 25 meetings have been held, with the most recent being in Rwanda in 2022.

Charles is the head of state in Australia, New Zealand and 12 other Commonwealth nations outside the UK.

He visited Australia ahead of his visit to Samoa, and was heckled by an Indigenous Australian senator, who accused the crown of stealing Aboriginal land.