Prince Charles appealed to world leaders and individuals equally as he noted climate change continues to be a growing issue despite the coronavirus pandemic has forcefully changed many people’s lifestyles. In a conversation with Edward Enningul, Vogue’s editor-in-chief, the Prince of Wales said it was “vital” to focus more on the battle against this environmental catastrophe and turn the tide.
He said: “Despite that, and despite lockdown, the rate of global warming is still accelerating.
“And we still haven’t been able to tackle this issue, which is so utterly crucial if we’re to avoid total catastrophe.
“Which is why, it seems to me, that the vital thing now is to buy more time in the battle to make the transition to an infinitely more sustainable, decarbonised economy.”
The Prince spoke of new technologies to be adopted as well as a change of the economy to its core.
Charles said: “There are extraordinary new developments in capturing carbon and finding new uses for the carbon you capture.
“But unless we take more of the emissions out of the atmosphere, particularly through coal-fired power plants and so on, we will never win this battle.
“We need to put nature back at the centre of everything we do in a circular bio-economy.
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“Species are becoming extinct at a rapid rate.
“We can’t go on like this, but there are solutions, we just need to act – and now.”
The Prince of Wales, who started speaking about the dangers of climate change – as well as plastic pollution and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources – five decades ago, urged citizens to adopt a more “circular economy”.
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Speaking about repairing and re-utilising old items, Prince Charles said: “I can’t bear any waste, including food waste; I’d much rather find another use.
“Which is why I’ve been going on for so long about the need for a circular economy, rather than a linear one where you just make, take and throw away – which is a tragedy, because inevitably we over-exploit natural resources that are rapidly depleting.”
Prince Charles has been actively working to bring change in the worldwide economy in a way it can become more sustainable and less wasteful.
In January, the Prince of Wales took the centre stage at the World Economic Forum to launch the Sustainable Markets Initiative.
This initiative calls on communities, businesses, investors and consumers to come together to take the steps required to transition to more sustainable practices.
In June, Prince Charles launched another project stemming from the Sustainable Markets Initiative – the Great Reset.
Finding a silver lining in the crisis created by the coronavirus pandemic, Prince Charles urged to rebuild the economy in a greener way.
He said: “There is a golden opportunity to seize something good from this crisis…global crises know no borders, and highlight how interdependent we are as one people sharing one planet.”
He added: “Unless we take the action necessary, and build in a greener and more inclusive and sustainable way, then we will have more and more pandemics.”
