Mills returns home from Commonwealth meeting

Accra, Dec. 3 GNA - President John Evans Atta Mills, returned home o= n Wednesday evening, after attending the 21st Commonwealth Governments Meet= ing in Trinidad and Tobago.

He was accompanied by some government officials. Mr. Victor Gbeho, Presidential Adviser on Foreign Affairs who accompanied the president, told journalists at the Kotoka International Airport that the meeting, which lasted from November 27 to November 29, h= eld a number of high profile discussions.


He said the meeting discussed the impact of the global crisis on Commonwealth countries as well as the need for the Commonwealth to solve the problems of poverty and degradation in member countries.


Mr. Gbeho said climate change, especially global warming attracted a lot of attention, adding that the meeting tried to come to a consensus on what views to put forward at the United Nations conference on climatic change to be held in Copenhagen- Denmark this month.


He said the meeting decided that the industrialised countries should accept responsibility for global warming and also cut down on emissions that had adverse effects on the environment.

The meeting put forward the view that vulnerable countries should be helped to fight the effects of climatic change.


Mr. Gbeho said the meeting afforded President Mills, whose attendance marked his first since his assumption of power, the opportunity to meet his colleagues and also tell about Ghana's experiences about climatic change. He said President Mills earned the respect of his peers, as he put Ghana's case forward on the issue.


Mr. Gbeho said the Commonwealth Heads of State urged their colleagues= to endeavour to attend the Copenhagen meeting, in order to effectively put their case across. Ghana was invited to chair the Commonwealth Ministerial Group, whils= t Rwanda was initiated as the latest country to join the body, raising the number of members to 54. 3 Dec. 09