Young Samoan climate activist Sulafi Brianna Fruean speaks alongside King Charles at the Commonwealth service - one of very few people in the world that have been honoured with the opportunity.
Previous speakers have included Kofi Annan, Nelson Mandela, Sir Desmond Tutu and Anthony Joshua.
In an exclusive interview for the CoconetTV Suluafi shines a light on the crucial message she is giving about the Pacific, and also the conflicts this opportunity presents for her, with the history of the Commonwealth's colonisation of the our region:
Held on the second Monday in March, the service is Britain’s largest annual inter-faith gathering. It is traditionally attended by the reigning monarch and other members of the Royal Family who are joined by a 2000-strong congregation of High Commissioners and Ambassadors, faith leaders, honoured guests, and 800 school children and young people from across the United Kingdom.
The service is among the most colourful held at the Abbey, and begins with a procession of the flags of all 54 member states, proudly carried through the church by young citizens from each country.
The Commonwealth is an association of 54 member states with a combined population of 2.4 billion citizens, almost a third of the world's people. Commonwealth countries span Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific and are diverse – they are amongst the world’s largest, smallest, richest and poorest countries.
Suluafi Brianna Fruean is part of the Pacific Climate Change Warriors who are passionately calling to the world to recognise the climate emergency the Pacific is facing. She remains the youngest person in the world to be awarded the Commonwealth Youth Award at age 16, and has also been awarded the prestigious Global Citizens Award for her work as a Climate Change activist.