In an exclusive interview, Prince Charles has told the BBC that he is worried world leaders will “just talk” when the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) begins on the 31st October in Glasgow, and warned of the “catastrophic” impact if more ambitious action isn’t taken on climate change.
Prince Charles said the Glasgow climate conference was “a last chance saloon” and said it would be “a disaster” if the world does not come together to tackle climate change.
He continued: “I mean it'll be catastrophic. It is already beginning to be catastrophic because nothing in nature can survive the stress that is created by these extremes of weather”.
The Prince said that, while governments can bring billions of dollars to the effort, the private sector has the potential to mobilise trillions of dollars, and feared many business executives still don’t give environmental issues the priority they deserve, stressing the shortcomings of the efforts of businesses in the action against climate change. When asked if the UK government was doing enough, the Prince of Wales said: “I couldn’t possibly comment”.
The Prince of Wales also expressed that many of the young people businesses employ really care about environment issues but said, “they haven’t quite got to the top to make a fundamental difference.”
On the topic of whether he sympathised with climate campaigners such as Greta Thunberg, he said: “Of course I do, yes. All these young people feel nothing is ever happening so of course they're going to get frustrated. I totally understand because nobody would listen and they see their future being totally destroyed.”
To reduce his own carbon footprint, The Prince of Wales doesn’t eat meat and fish on two days each week and doesn’t eat any dairy products on another day.
He said: “If more people did that it would reduce a lot of the pressure on the environment”.
He has installed solar panels at Clarence House, his London residence, and on the farm buildings of his Gloucestershire home, Highgrove, and has converted his favourite vehicle, an Aston Martin he has owned for 51 years, to run on what he describes as “surplus English white wine and whey from the cheese process.” (BBC World News and BBC.com)