King hosts climate event to support COP27
THE King is to host a reception for international leaders at Buckingham Palace ahead of the COP27 summit, as he finds a way to support the environment conference despite not attending in person.
The King is said to have “mutually agreed” not to fly to the conference in person on the advice of the Government, in a decision upheld by Rishi Sunak, the new Prime Minister
He will instead host an event for business leaders, NGOs, experts and decision-makers at the palace, shortly before COP27 gets under way in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
Among those expected to attend are Mr Sunak, Alok Sharma, the president for last year’s UN Climate Change Conference, and members of the Cabinet.
International guests will also be invited, brought together by the King’s long-standing efforts to convene experts to find solutions to climate change.
While Prince of Wales, he had originally planned to attend the conference in person and was expected to speak. After he became King, The Telegraph revealed he would no longer be going. It emerged he had been advised against it by Liz Truss, the former prime minister.
On Friday, Downing Street confirmed that the same advice had been offered by Mr Sunak’s regime, with a “unanimous” decision between the Government and Buckingham Palace that it “would not be the right occasion for the King to visit in person”.
Yesterday, this newspaper reported that the King would find other ways to support COP27.
It can now be revealed that this will be in the form of hosting a daytime reception for key figures ahead of the
summit to discuss the issues they face. It will be seen as something of a truce after the Government’s advice appeared at odds with the King’s decades-old willingness to address the most pressing issues facing the environment.
Denying that the King was disappointed not to go to Egypt himself, a source added: “He is entirely accepting of his role, and a way has been found to engage with the work of COP27 in [agreement] with the Government.”
The Buckingham Palace reception, due to be held in the daytime later this week, will include politicians travelling to COP27.
The King is not likely to give a formal speech, although his own initiatives including the Sustainable Markets Initiative – his project to bring together the private sector in support of sustainability – will feature.
No member of the Royal family will travel to COP27, including the new Prince of Wales who has also made saving the planet one of his key campaigning issues including his Earthshot Prize.
It is a marked contrast to COP26 in Glasgow last year, where senior members attended en masse and the late Queen Elizabeth II delivered a powerful opening message urging world leaders to find solutions to save the planet.
On Friday, Thérèse Coffey, the Environment Secretary, said it was “up to him” whether the King attended the summit. Downing Street later clarified that advice about the King’s travel had been “sought and provided” under Liz Truss’s government, and had not changed with Mr Sunak.
After it was claimed the King would be “disappointed” to miss the event and was “all lined up to go”, a palace source
‘The King understands the difference between being the heir to the throne and being monarch’
insisted he was mindful of his changed role following the death of his mother.
Speaking in an ITV programme titled Charles: Our New King, David Cameron, the former prime minister, said he believed the monarch had always understood how his role must change.
“The King is the sovereign but Parliament is sovereign,” Mr Cameron told the show, which will air on Wednesday.
“He understands that. I remember him saying to me: ‘I understand the difference between being the heir to the throne, where you’re perfectly entitled to get involved in issues and push for issues, and being monarch in that important constitutional role’.”