Prince Charles says 'time has run out' for world leaders to act on climate change

Prince Charles has warned delegates at the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow that time to take action to save the planet has “quite literally run out”.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the UN conference, the first in line to the throne urged the 120 world leaders gathered in the SEC to work together and support developing nations with the cost.  He called for a “war-like footing” to tackle the crisis, with a “military-style campaign”

The Duke of Rothesay told delegates: "We know what we must do.

"We have to reduce emissions urgently and take action to tackle the carbon already in the atmosphere." 

The prince called for a global solution: “The scale and scope of the threat we face call for a global, systems-level solution based on radically transforming our current fossil fuel-based economy to one that is genuinely renewable and sustainable.

“So ladies and gentlemen my plea today is for countries to come together to create the environment that enables every sector of industry to take the action required.

“We know this will take trillions, not billions, of dollars. We also know that countries, many of whom are burdened by growing levels of debt, simply cannot afford to ‘go green’.

“Here, we need a vast military-style campaign to marshal the strength of the global private sector. With trillions at its disposal – far beyond global GDP and, with the greatest respect, beyond even the governments of the world’s leaders – it offers the only real prospect of achieving fundamental economic transition.”

The cost of inaction, he warned, was “far greater than the cost of prevention".