As Prince of Wales he spent decades campaigning, cajoling, and convening meetings to drive action on environmental issues but as king he is subject to different rules, while his friends and advisers say he will not cool on the issue of global warming.
image: for illustration only – King charles III image The Prince of Wales 2017 By Mark Jones – This file has been extracted from another file, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/
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… how controversial is it for a British monarch to express general support for something that is already enshrined in law…
BBC writes:
Might urging action on key global issues like climate change or biodiversity loss be part of what a modern monarchy looks like?
King Charles’ interests have ranged from tropical forests to the ocean depths, from sustainable farming practices to water security. They began long before such concerns became mainstream.
Within months of his investiture as Prince of Wales in 1969, the 20-year-old Prince Charles wrote to Prime Minister Harold Wilson worried about the decline of salmon stocks in Scottish rivers. “People are notoriously short-sighted when it comes to questions of wildlife,” he complained.
Increasingly he has focused on tackling global warming, which he regards as one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced. He was a major presence at the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow last year, urging world leaders to work together to save the planet during a speech at the opening ceremony.
When I interviewed him ahead of COP26 he told me “It has taken far too long” for the world to respond to the risks of climate change. I pointed out world leaders would soon be gathering to talk about the climate crisis, he responded: “But they just talk, the problem is to get action.”…
… The question is whether as king, Charles, will be so outspoken on this or any other issue.
“Everything we know about how he has thought about his accession, tells us he will be absolutely clear about his constitutional duties,” says Jonathan Porritt, former head of Friends of the Earth and an ex-adviser to the new king.
King Charles has said as much himself. When asked in an interview in 2018 whether he would be a “meddling” king he replied “I am not that stupid”…
… One senior British politician told me he could imagine Charles making a similar speech as king. “You won’t hear him expressing a view on fracking,” he said, “but I can imagine him making a speech on the need to take more urgent action on climate.”
US President Joe Biden’s climate envoy, John Kerry, agrees. He has said he hopes Charles will continue to press for action on climate….
So, here’s a question King Charles III will have already considered: how controversial is it for a British monarch to express general support for something that is already enshrined in law.
