The Prince of Wales (heir to the British throne) has urged the world to form a global partnership to act against the ticking “doomsday clock” of climate change in a major speech to the European Parliament in Brussels today. In the speech, which he delivered to 150 British MEPs and representatives from the European Parliament’s climate change and environment committees, as well as representatives of his own charities, he particularly focused on rainforests. he called for a “tripartite alliance” between public, private and non-governmental organisations (NGO) to tackle the crisis.
The Prince said: “For me, the crux of the problem is – and I only pray I will be proved wrong – that the doomsday clock of climate change is ticking ever faster towards midnight. We are simply not reacting quickly enough. We cannot be anything less than courageous and revolutionary in our approach to tackling climate change. If we are not, the result will be catastrophe for all of us, but with the poorest in our world hit hardest of all.” The Prince focused on the plight of the rainforests during his speech, describing them as “global utilities” that provide “essential public services to humanity on a vast scale”. His Royal Highness said: “Unbelievable as it might seem, we are destroying our planet’s air-conditioning system. But the loss of biodiversity is also terrifying. It has been compared to burning down a library of precious knowledge without first reading the books.” The Prince added that the private sector needed to be involved in the solution for saving the rainforests. To this end, he has set up The Prince’s Rainforests Project, which aims to work with the private sector, governments and environmental experts to find solutions to ensure the survival of the world’s rainforests, which are essential to combating climate change. Speaking about his project, The Prince said: “What I am hoping we can do is to find a way to energise the capital markets to develop instruments, whether market based or not, to transfer to those countries that actually want to do something about this problem, in the most effective way, the huge sums which are needed.” The Prince also told the audience that the north polar ice cap is melting so fast scientists predict that in seven years it will completely disappear. The Prince said to the packed chamber: “Determined and principled leadership has never been more needed. Surely this is just the moment in history for which the European Union was created.” “Climate change presents such a threat that, uniquely in history, it will surely require the effort of every nation and every person to find and implement a solution before it is too late. It is a task that calls for the biggest public, private and NGO partnership ever seen.”
The Prince’s Rainforests Project was set up in October 2007 by The Prince of Wales to find practical solutions to slow tropical deforestation and combat climate change. The destruction and degradation of the tropical rainforests is the second biggest contributor to carbon emissions worldwide after power generation. It is estimated that as much as 12% of total global greenhouse gas emissions result from deforestation, and both the Stern review and the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change report believe tackling deforestation may be one of the quickest and most cost effective means of reducing emissions in the short term. The Prince’s Rainforests Project aims to help the world community recognise the true value of forests by identifying ways to value, and then pay for, the crucial “ecosystem services” rainforests provide. As His Royal Highness said in a speech on January 14 to the European Parliament in Brussels: “In the simplest terms, we have to make the rainforests worth more alive than dead.” With this aim in mind, the Project is engaging with rainforest nations, governments, businesses and non-governmental organisations to find the solutions to deforestation. The Project is backed by 13 major companies: Shell, Rio Tinto Zinc, McDonald’s, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Sun Media, Sky, Deutsche Bank, Man Group, KPMG, Barclays Bank, Finsbury and the European Climate Exchange. The Project is also being advised by a group of experts, including: Lord Stern; Steve Howard, chief executive of the Climate Group; Kevin Conrad, the executive director of the Coalition of Rainforest Nations; Andrew Mitchell of the Global Canopy Programme; Kristalina Geogieva, vice president of the World Bank; Reijo Kempinnen, head of the European Commission Representation in the UK; and Barry Gardiner MP.
