LONDON, Oct 11, 2021 (BSS/AFP) - Prince Charles, a lifelong
environmentalist who has championed organic gardening and runs one of his
cars on white wine and cheese, has urged world leaders to turn talk into
action at the upcoming UN climate summit.
Queen Elizabeth II's eldest son and heir, 72, is due to attend events at
the two-week COP26 summit in Glasgow starting on October 31, along with his
95-year-old mother. But in an interview with the BBC broadcast on Monday, he
said he worried that world leaders would "just talk", adding: "The problem is
to get action on the ground."
The UN summit will try to persuade major developing economies to do more to
cut their carbon emissions, and get the rich world to cough up billions more
dollars to help poorer countries adapt to climate change.
When asked if Prime Minister Boris Johnson's UK government was doing enough
itself against climate change, Charles replied: "I couldn't possibly
comment."
The Prince of Wales expressed sympathy with climate protesters, who have
been blocking roads in Britain for several weeks as part of a campaign to
make homes more environmentally efficient.
"I totally understand the frustration," he said, as the government tries to
get tough with the demonstrators, who have caused gridlock to rush-hour
traffic with sit-down protests and by glueing themselves to tarmac.
"All these young people feel nothing is ever happening so of course they're
going to get frustrated," he added, stressing: "But it isn't helpful, I don't
think, to do it in a way that alienates people.
"So I totally understand the frustration, the difficulty is how do you
direct that frustration in a way that is more constructive rather than
destructive."
Charles, whose Highgrove estate in western England has an entirely organic
garden and farm, also outlined some of his own actions to reduce his carbon
footprint, including cutting down on meat and fish.
In 2008, his office revealed he had converted an Aston Martin car he owns
to run on biofuel made from surplus English white wine and whey from cheese
manufacturing.
Other cars in his fleet had been adapted to run on biodiesel made from used
cooking oil, as a way to reduce his carbon footprint.