'Last chance saloon': Prince Charles seeks robust action on climate change at COP26 summit

The Conference of Parties (COP26) is the "last chance saloon" to save the planet and contain a global rise in temperature at 1.5°C, Prince Charles, committed environmental campaigner, said on Sunday, as per an official statement released by Clarence House. The Prince of Wales was addressing a press meet organised by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi just ahead of the Glasgow Summit that kick-started earlier on Monday, 1 November. Prince Charles' remarks came shortly after UK PM Boris Johnson struck a "pessimistic tone" about the success of the conference, the Independent reported.

"COP26 begins in Glasgow tomorrow.  Quite literally, it is the last chance saloon. We must now translate fine words into still finer actions," Prince Charles said at G20 Summit.

Calling actions against climate change an "overwhelming responsibility to generations yet unborn," Prince Charles called on G20 leaders to meet the "urgent needs" of development and mechanism to provide...vast sums of money to make the private/public partnerships" of working towards reversing the effects of climate change "a reality". On his Sustainable Markets Initiative, the Prince of Wales said that some 300 of the world’s top CEOs from every sector of the economy, including financial services, representing well over sixty trillion dollars of assets under management,  joined the initiative. He added: "(They) demonstrated how acutely sensitive they are to the way both consumers, who control more than 60% of global G.D.P. and shareholders who are now demanding changes in the way businesses behave."  

Prince of Wales calls for trillion-dollar fund system

Highlighting the need to align the country, industry and investment roadmap, Prince Charles asserted that there are too few investable projects in the pipeline owing to the lack of confidence in the government. Citing his discussions with cross-industry leaders, the Prince noted the must-needed solutions to the issues of climate change. "What is needed to overcome barriers and unlock trillions of dollars, they have indicated three essential points," he said adding, "Multilateral Development Banks have a critical role to play in creating the enabling environment for investment that supports a sustainable future." He also called on leaders to 'set aside differences' and grasp the opportunity to launch a sustainable green recovery.  

(Image: @ClarenceHouse/Twitter)