Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma’s CHOGM diary

Tomorrow did indeed become another day, today. I could not do this without Babli. We received all the leaders as they arrived: around 40 at Head level – so, a good turn-out for us at the most senior levels. The mood was bright and optimistic, matching the bright sunshine outside the brand new, Sydney Opera House-style National Academy of Performing Arts.

Richard Bourne – one of so many stalwart and invaluable Commonwealth people, who has worked variously with the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, the Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit and the 100-year-old Round Table magazine, and who this week is in demand as to how we must preserve our fast-diminishing Commonwealth fish stocks – has seen far more CHOGM opening ceremonies than I have, and was adamant that this was the best – at least for the entertainment, if not for the speeches.....

It was as spectacular a show as I have ever seen – ‘a song and a dance’ for Trinidad and Tobago of breathtaking quality, set by a choreographer who, I understand, gave us the opening of the Atlanta Olympics. In my few words, I tried to get to the heart of what it is that binds us as an association across five continents. I have always maintained that this is the definitive global community – ‘that place in the world which comes nearest to a shared vision of a truly international community ... which ‘must again show itself to be in and of its times, and equal to them’.

Her Majesty spoke in similar terms: ‘no complacency’, she said – ‘we must look forward’. To hear perhaps the most recognisable female voice in the world – such diction, such poise – was, for me, profoundly uplifting. The Queen is part of the glue which has held this Commonwealth together for 57 of its 60 years. She recalled her father George VI, but did not quote his hope (voiced at the signing of the London Declaration in 1949), that the new Commonwealth would ‘redound to the happiness of millions’. I believe it has done just that.

President Museveni of Uganda, the outgoing Chair, pulled no punches, in the plea for ‘black Africa’ to ‘let be’. I have heard him expound before on the subject of social transformation: he is fearless, and fun too. His lists are long, though: this was an eight-pointer. PM Manning did not just observe protocols, he counted every hair on their heads – saluting several of his fellow leaders, and being humble enough to mention his beloved West Indies cricket team languishing at 134 for 5, chasing 480 at the Gabba in Brisbane.

And so, after a ‘family photo’, CHOGM was underway, with a ‘special session’ on climate change. ‘Special’ in quality, I hope, but so-called because of the presence, for the first time ever, of three who were not Commonwealth Heads of Government. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen – the Churchill and Roosevelt of Copenhagen: I am yet to decide who the Stalin might be – were with us, as was French President Nicolas Sarkozy. It is a quarter to midnight, he told us – 'minuit moins le quart'. The clock is ticking. It was a powerful intervention – he spoke without notes, and without wavering. We have to save the world. He and Gordon Brown have proposed $10 billion a year for the next three years to help poor and developing countries cope with climate change, almost a quarter of which will go towards turning back the devastation of deforestation. (We have a powerful Commonwealth story to tell of a living rainforest, through our work in Iwokrama, Guyana.) Sarkozy reported conversations with Manmohan Singh and Jacob Zuma; and he implored leaders to be in Copenhagen on 17 December, so that when decisions are made, the right people are there to make them. ‘We either take all the decisions, or we take none.'

It was a compelling airing of the concerns of a quarter of the world’s countries, about an issue which touches on health, on economic prosperity, on political stability, on the very future – or not – of this planet. In deference to Her Majesty, whose banquet awaited, PM Manning had us adjourn at six, with five countries (Australia, South Africa, Mauritius, Maldives and Guyana) to work through the night to propose the text of a draft statement for tomorrow. Not only can we add political momentum to Copenhagen, we can give practical assistance to match. We have the contacts, and the know-how. My Good Offices for Peace (Special Envoys sent into tense political situations) can easily become my Good Offices for the Environment. I am hopeful of a good outcome when a statement is agreed tomorrow.

Today saw the Commonwealth at its convivial and consensual best. The Queen’s dinner helped me to digest that reality.

Meanwhile, still no news from London on the trouser hunt.