The Prince of Wales has called on politicians and business leaders to tackle climate change in the same way they have tackled the global pandemic.
Speaking at a special meeting at the G7 summit in Cornwall, Prince Charles said ”The global health emergency has shown us what a truly borderless crisis looks like. Of course, we did not fully see Covid coming. Yet climate change and bio-diversity loss represent a borderless crisis, the solutions to which have been argued about and postponed for far too long. The fight against this terrible pandemic provides, if ever one was needed, a crystal-clear example of the scale, and sheer speed, at which the global community can tackle crises when we combine political will with business ingenuity and public mobilization. Ladies and gentlemen, we are doing it for the pandemic. So if you don’t mind me saying so, we must also do it for the planet.”
The prince’s remarks came as he and the Duke of Cambridge hosted government leaders and CEOs from global organisations at an event spotlighting the environment. It came just hours after Charles chaired a meeting in London focused on the Sustainable Markets Initiative, which he set up in 2020 to work towards putting the environment and people at the heart of major projects for a more sustainable future.
In his address on June 11th 2021, at the Eden Project in Cornwall, Prince Charles continued ”While, of course, the scale of the challenge is clearly immense – and the window of opportunity to tackle it is closing extremely fast – business leaders, working through my Sustainable Markets Initiative over the past sixteen months, have helped us develop the “Terra Carta” – a Road Map, if you like, offering practical steps on where we need to go and, crucially, how to get there.”
The meeting came as the Royal Family attended a series of events marking the G7 summit. The Queen met world leaders at the Eden Project before spending time with community volunteers from the Big Lunch Initiative who have been helping others throughout the pandemic. She was joined at that event by the Duchess of Cornwall, patron of the Big Lunch, and the Duchess of Cambridge. Earlier in the day, Kate visited a primary school with First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden, to discuss early years provision and education.