King Charles III made an impassioned plea for more climate action at the COP28 summit in Dubai, asserting British commitment to combating global warming amid doubts about Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s own green agenda.
In a speech that made his long- and strongly held views on climate change plain, the British monarch got specific, especially on finance. Charles called for partnership between public and private sectors and talked about the role the insurance industry can play in mitigating investment risks.
“Records are now being broken so often that we are perhaps becoming immune to what they are really telling us,” the king told gathered leaders. “Our choice now is a starker and darker one: How dangerous are we actually prepared to make our world?”
While Charles has long championed environmental causes and made many speeches on climate change, this was the first time he’s addressed COP since becoming king last year — a role where he’s expected to be less political. He was prevented from speaking at last year’s summit by the British government under the short-lived premiership of Liz Truss.
The current prime minister, Sunak, has drawn criticism for climate campaigners for walking back some of the UK’s green commitments.
Today’s appearance at COP28 contrasted with Charles’s first King’s Speech at the state opening of parliament last month. Laying out the Sunak government’s legislative agenda, he announced plans to for the more oil and gas explorations
Although the king didn’t address UK policy, he outlined clear prescriptions for tackling climate change and showed a grasp of the subject. It’s hard to imagine his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, ever having talked about first-loss risk guarantees.
He ended with a rhetorical flourish, though.
“As part of this grand and sacred system, harmony with nature must be maintained,” Charles said. “The Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth.”
