THE CANADIAN PRESS

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PORT-OF-SPAIN - Prime Minister Stephen Harper has arrived in Trinidad and Tobago for a meeting of Commonwealth leaders.

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THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, centre, arrives in Port of Spain, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, as he is greeted by Ministry of Foreign Affairs Protocol Officer Maxine Barnett, right, on Thursday November 26, 2009. Harper is attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

The summit begins in earnest on Friday with the opening address followed by meetings on climate change. The majority of the former British colonies that make up the Commonwealth are small countries with populations of fewer than a million people.

Some are small island states and they're worried they'll be literally swamped if sea levels rise as the planet warms.

The small island states are expected to make an eleventh-hour push for urgent action on climate change.

The climate-change talks come ahead of a pivotal United Nations summit in Copenhagen next month, where countries will try to hammer out a new greenhouse-gas deal to replace the expiring Kyoto Protocol.

An aide to the prime minister told reporters en route to Trinidad and Tobago that Harper will attend the Copenhagen talks now that U.S. President Barack Obama and other leaders are going.