The declaration says the Commonwealth leaders "affirm that members can maintain their maritime zones" under the law of the sea and that the rights that flow from them continue to apply, regardless of physical changes connected to climate change related sea level rise.

Downing Street insists a discussion about the issue is not on the agenda for the summit of 56 Commonwealth countries.

The leaders of the Commonwealth group of nations will meet at a welcome banquet in Samoa in the South Pacific on Thursday, with climate change and reparations for Britain's role in the transatlantic slave trade on the agenda of summit discussions.

Commonwealth heads of government are to push for a "conversation" on reparations for the transatlantic slave trade when they meet for the association's first summit in two years, the BBC