Put words and commitments into practice, Charles tells Cop26

The Prince of Wales met indigenous people from the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, representing 24 countries.
The Prince of Wales speaking during the Action on Forests and Land Use event during the Cop26 summit at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) in Glasgow. Picture date: Tuesday November 2, 2021.
PA Wire
Tony Jones2 November 2021

The Prince of Wales has told Cop26 the world has had enough of talking and “we need to put our words and commitments into practice”.

In a speech to delegates about steps needed to safeguard the world’s forests and land, he said nations needed to “honour” the rights of indigenous people who were “experienced custodians” of their habitats.

Charles said: “I cannot believe how many times I’ve ended speeches like this all over the world during the past 40 years – and to no avail.

“But I can only pray that this time, this session will provide us with a real sense of the seriously urgent systemic shifts that need to happen to deliver on our vision. And urge you all to take all the work we’ve discussed today with implacable resolve and determination to make things happen on the ground.”

He added: “Frankly, we have all had enough talking so we need to put our words and commitments into practice.”

Charles joined the session after speeches by US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Boris Johnson who had earlier hailed a pledge by more than 100 international leaders to end the “great chainsaw massacre” of the world’s forests.

On the second day of the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow, 110 nations – covering 85% of the world’s forests – signed a declaration to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030.

Charles later held a 15-minute bilateral meeting with President Biden, one of many one-to-one discussions the prince held with world leaders during the day.

The prince walked into the auditorium with a delegation of indigenous people from the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, representing 24 countries with tropical rainforests, and wore a colourful necklace presented by an Ecuadorian member of the group.

He met them all briefly before his speech and told Juan Carlos Jintiach and Tuntiak Katan from Ecuador, who gave him the gift made by local women: “We’ve got to work harder to save your forests, for all our sakes.”

Offering solutions to combat the destruction of forests, Charles suggested to delegates they should “re-engineer the world’s financial and economic system to disincentivise deforestation and reward countries and communities for the protection of their forests and the pursuit of a forest-positive economy”.

He referenced the Ecuadorian necklace he was wearing when he said indigenous people needed to be supported.

The prince said: “The second action the world needs as a real matter of priority and justice is to safeguard and honour the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities who depend on the forests for their lives and livelihoods, and who are themselves wise and experienced custodians.”

Charles is presented with a necklace by an Ecuadorian member of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (Chris Jackson/PA)
PA Wire

Later Charles met Commonwealth leaders and urged them to tie up deals with private financiers to green their economies.

The urgency of his message was highlighted by the President of the Maldives who told the politicians his island nation would disappear under rising sea levels unless they acted now to stop man-made climate change.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said his people were in danger of becoming climate refugees.

“The Maldives faces catastrophic impacts of climate change due to rising sea levels and extreme weather conditions,” he said. “My people deserve a safe place to live as much as anyone else in this room.”

Charles and Mr Johnson hosted the lunchtime reception attended by most of the leaders of the 54-nation association of mainly former British Empire nations in a lounge at the Cop26 conference centre in Glasgow.

The prince also invited chief executives from some of the world’s biggest companies and asset managers willing to invest trillions of dollars in helping economies invest in green technology and called on the leaders to take the opportunity to talk.

He said: “So I can only urge you while you are here, if I may say so to be to so bold, to engage with them because I really do believe it’s about the only way we are going to achieve the necessary targets that the PM and others have been talking about.”

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