01 December 2023 , 22:23
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King Charles’ “dire warnings are meaningless” unless the Government backs them up with actions, climate activists said yesterday.
Speaking at the opening address at Cop28 in Dubai, he warned the world remains far off track in key targets and urged meaningful change. Charles told world leaders without drastic change “our own economy and survivability will be imperilled”.
He told the audience, including UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, that nature was being taken into dangerous, uncharted territory by human activity.
The monarch said: “I pray with all my heart that Cop28 will be another critical turning point towards genuine transformational action at a time when, already, as scientists have been warning for so long, we are seeing alarming tipping points being reached.”
King Charles III addressed world leaders at Cop28 (PA)Charles’ address at Expo City Dubai was his first at the conference as King, having opened Cop26 in Glasgow in 2021 and Cop21 in Paris in 2015.
Queen honoured in London New Year's fireworks before turning into King Charles
The speech was watched by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron, with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Shadow Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband.
Mr Sunak praised the King as having been “at the forefront of the fight to protect our planet for more than 60 years” and called his presence at Cop28 a good reflection on the nation.
But Izzie McIntosh, climate campaign manager at Global Justice Now, said: “King Charles’s dire warnings are meaningless unless the UK government backs them up with actions.
“Instead, Rishi Sunak has been rolling back net zero plans, expanding North Sea oil and gas, and is now fiddling the figures on climate finance.
“Rich polluting countries saying the right thing while doing the wrong thing has become all too familiar over 30 years of climate summits – the only difference this time is that in Charles and Rishi it’s a deceitful double act.”
Tanya Steele, WWF UK’s chief executive, said: “We hope his speech spurs governments to set a rapid course correction to limit global warming to less than 1.5C while protecting communities and ecosystems.”
Bob Ward, of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said: “Let us hope other world leaders listen to and act on his clear message.”
Meanwhile, this year has joined 2021 and 2022 as one of the warmest autumns on record in the UK, figures from the Met Office show.
The mean temperature for the past three months was 10.76C, below last year (11.05C) and 2021 (10.84C).