On March 11, around 2.5 billion of us will celebrate the Commonwealth family together. 75 years after the London Declaration, I will join the many nations, religions and communities in a celebration in Westminster Abbey.

I was Prime Minister when the Commonwealth approved a new Charter, a milestone in our family's history. For the first time, we had a single document setting out our core values and shared goals.

Today, as Secretary of State for External Affairs, I want our family of nations to work in partnership to uphold these values and deliver on these goals. I am proud of the work done by Commonwealth members in partnership, in areas ranging from the rule of law to environmental protection.

We are united through our many connections, and our incredible diversity inspires us. This gives us a strong and respected voice in the world, capable of tackling global challenges. It means that all our citizens can benefit from belonging to this family in their daily lives.  

Thanks to our strong ties, the cost of trade between Commonwealth members is 20% lower than the cost of transactions with non-Commonwealth countries.

We have made very important strides in recent years in empowering women and girls, supporting 4000 women-owned businesses across the Commonwealth to become more competitive.

And we are working hard to promote our values. The Commonwealth came together to support Guyana when it was threatened. And Commonwealth missions have observed dozens of elections since we adopted our new Charter.

The bonds that our family shares are even more important when we are facing major challenges on a global scale. I believe this is especially true for our members who are small island countries. Our Charter recognized the specific needs of these countries in strengthening their resilience, notably in the face of climate change. This global challenge impacts these states in a relatively stronger way, given their geography.

When we are in the most difficulty, it is to our families that we turn. I want these states to know that they can turn to their Commonwealth family today.

This year, we have an important opportunity. The Commonwealth Heads of State will meet for the first time in a Pacific island country, Samoa, next October. This meeting will take place a few months after the once-a-decade UN Conference of Small Island Developing States, which will be held in Antigua and Barbuda next May.

These countries are already harnessing the power of nature to tackle the causes and impacts of climate change. Just look at Papua New Guinea, which is protecting some of the world's most important forests, on which we all depend. Or consider the sixteen small island Commonwealth states working within the global coalition that is committed to protecting at least 30% of the world's oceans by 2030.

We can offer much more support to these efforts. The UK will double its supply of international climate finance. And last fall, the Prime Minister made our largest ever contribution to the Green Climate Fund, the largest global fund to support developing countries in responding to climate change.

This will help. But the biggest challenge these countries face is in accessing international funding themselves. Despite having a low level of emissions and being particularly exposed to the threat of climate change, they receive a tiny percentage of this funding.

Many of these countries told me at the COP: "We keep hearing announcements about green financing, but it seems so difficult to access the money and get funding for the projects." And this is the situation I want to correct.

A pole dedicated to Since 2016, the Commonwealth has helped mobilize more than $310 million in climate finance for our members, which are small island countries. This year, as members of the same Commonwealth family, we are going to take advantage of this fact and go much further.

Britain has a special influence as a major donor to the major multilateral development funds and banks. We are working particularly closely with these banks to increase the funding they make available to developing countries by hundreds of billions of dollars.

But all members can play a role. Many of us are donors. Others have experience to share in accessing funding from these funds and banks, and in applying that funding more effectively on the ground.

This year, in Samoa, we will be able to show these countries and our other members who are small island states what the Commonwealth really means. An effective association. A unique network. A reliable source of support. In short, a family.