China open to Charles’s green vision
PRINCE Charles received a fresh invitation to make his first official visit to China after wooing the country’s leaders yesterday.
The heir to the throne was applauded after speaking to the Cop15 UN conference on biodiversity in the southern city of Kunming by video and using a few words in Mandarin.
He lobbied China to start cutting carbon emissions and to build in the cost of climate change-causing pollutants in the price of the cheap goods it produces.
After making his speech, Charles was invited to join a discussion with executives from 10 of China’s top businesses – including Bank of China – to discuss how they would make the country’s economy more environmentally friendly.
They are now considering joining Charles’s Sustainable Markets Initiative, which brings together the planet’s biggest companies in an effort to share ways to cut carbon emissions and limit climate change.
The Prince of Wales urged them to sign up to his Terra Carta – a charter that puts sustainability at the heart of the private sector.
He told them: “China is, of course, critical to our shared future on this planet. It is therefore my great hope that, together, we will be able to work towards establishing a China Council as part of my Sustainable Markets Initiative and the Terra Carta in order to help accelerate the green economy globally.”
China’s President Xi Jinping yesterday marked the Cop15 conference by launching a $232.5million fund to support biodiversity in developing countries.
But at the same time, his government lifted restrictions on use of coal-fired power amid fears that an energy crisis could cripple the Chinese economy this winter.
Prince William is also doing his bit to encourage environmentally friendly innovations that will allow the world economy to grow without damaging the planet.
On Sunday he and the Duchess of Cambridge will host the inaugural Earthshot Prize, offering £1million each to five winning green projects.
The Queen, Charles, Camilla, William and Kate will attend events at the Cop26 UN climate change conference in Glasgow next month.