Crowned by nature

WILL OUR NEW 'ECO-KING' HELP SAVE THE PLANET?

Up until his mother, our dear Queen Elizabeth II passed away, our new monarch has dedicated a large part of his life to helping address environmental issues - from being an outspoken supporter of sustainability, organic farming, renewable energy and biodiversity to 'actively doing' himself and his depth of knowledge is broad and deep, but as our new Prime Minister ignores climate change will His Royal Majesty's new role as King limit his activism?

Long since mocked for speaking to plants and shaking hands with trees, his vintage Aston Martin has run on surplus wine and excess cheese whey for years. Back in 1970 he was warning about the effects of pollution. For years, he has published his own total carbon footprint - including travel for unofficial business. There has been a reed bed waste-water filtration system in operation since 1990 at Highgrove which manages the waste, Balmoral has hydroelectric turbines and biomass boilers, Clarence House has solar panel, he's encouraged others to rethink urban design and skips meat, fish and dairy himself several days a week. As well as being a patron to hundreds of wildlife and conservation charities he set up the organic 'Duchy' estate, the Prince's Foundation, the Prince's Trust, projects like Dumfries House and the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) with it's 'Terra Carta' to guide businesses toward becoming more sustainable.

At last year's COP26, the king warned world leaders that when it comes to reducing emissions and capturing carbon "after billions of years of evolution, nature is our best teacher" and that "restoring natural capital, accelerating nature-based solutions, and leveraging the circular bioeconomy will be vital to our effort." He also said that the world urgently needed a "war-like footing" to tackle the "existential threat" of climate change and biodiversity loss.

In His Majesty King Charles III's first address to the nation after the death of our beloved Queen Elizabeth II he said "My life will of course change as I take up my new responsibilities. It will no longer be possible for me to give so much of my time and energies to the charities and issues for which I care so deeply." However, whilst our new King of the United Kingdom must now remain neutral and his and 'hold his tongue', so-to-speak, there's another place where he may exert an even stronger influence on climate policies - and that's the Commonwealth, of which he's also monarch. This includes over 2.4 billion people, or over a quarter of the world's population!

The Commonwealth is already engaged with environmental issues relating to climate and biodiversity, and environmentalists, including Sir Jonathon Porritt, author, patron of Green Christian and founder of Forum for the Future, think King Charles III will be committed to making sure Commonwealth countries work effectively together to address big climate challenges. If he continues the regular meetings that the Queen had with the Heads of State in the Commonwealth there is potential for encouraging other initiatives through business and other outlets.

Porritt also sees our new King's connection with the younger generation as also being vitally important, as many feel betrayed by the older generation but know Charles has been fighting for these issues for years. Whilst His Royal Majesty is not only supposed to stop pushing for green political policies but faces a new Prime Minister who plans to reverse them, there is a palpable 'turning tide' in eco-consciousness within the UK and that shift, together with support for our King and our planet outside our shores, and especially in links with the Commonwealth, must surely give us hope.