Charles: Our dizzying spending spree with the planet’s resources
HUMANS HAVE been on a “dizzying spending spree for centuries” with the planet’s resources and are facing a climate and biodiversity emergency, the Prince of Wales said yesterday.
Charles was addressing an audience at Lincoln University during his tour of New Zealand and said humanity was at “a tipping point” with only a small window left before the planet’s fate would be out of our hands.
The prince also appeared to allude to the movement started by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, saying children were “demanding immediate action and not just words”. Charles delivered a keynote address on environmental issues in which he said: “If we were to think about nature and her assets as humanity’s own bank account, it is clear that we have been on a dizzying spending spree for centuries.
“We now find ourselves dangerously overdrawn and urgently need to figure out how we are going to repay the mounting debt. And, if we were to think of this planet as a patient, any self-respecting doctor would long ago have made a precautionary intervention on the basis of the symptoms displayed.” The prince added that the world had to start acting in the interests of future generations. Meanwhile, Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall consoled the family of a “dedicated” 24-year-old man who died in the Christchurch mass shootings. Tariq Omar, a keen footballer, was one of 51 people killed in the deadliest mass shooting in New Zealand’s history when a gunman opened fire at a mosque and Islamic centre.
A further 49 were injured in the attacks on March 15.
Charles and Camilla held a private meeting with members of the Omar family during a visit to Cashmere High School.
Four current or former students of the school were killed in the attack.
Rosemary Omar, the mother of Tariq, said it was a “comforting” meeting.