King Charles hosts meeting ahead of Cop27

RISHI Sunak has told a Cop27 reception hosted by King Charles that the world will experience “more human suffering” if we continue to allow “climate change to ravage our planet”.

The Prime Minister is attending Cop27, the UN climate conference, in Egypt next week after a U-turn but Charles will miss the gathering of world leaders, business figures and environmentalists.

The King has long campaigned on environmental issues and last autumn he told the Cop26 talks in Glasgow that the world has had enough of talking and commitments needed to be put into practice.

But the “soft power” diplomacy of the monarchy will be absent from the international gathering at Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm ElSheikh.

Speaking at a reception staged in the Buckingham Palace ballroom on Friday, Mr Sunak said: “As recent events have shown, delivering on the promise of Glasgow is more important than ever.

“More important because as we have seen so starkly with the war in Ukraine, it is vital to invest in secure, renewable sources of energy and sustainable food production.

“More important because every moment we allow climate change to ravage our planet we will see more human suffering like the devastating floods in Pakistan.

“And more important because if we do not act today, we will risk leaving an ever more desperate inheritance for our children.”