Prince Charles has compared the fight against global climate change to war.
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The prince warned the planet must take a “revolutionary” approach to stop the “ticking doomsday clock” of global warming during a speech to the European Parliament in Brussels, the capital city of Belgium, yesterday (14.02.08).
During the speech, which received a standing ovation, Charles said: “For me, the crux of the problem is – and I only pray I will be proven 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. If we are not, the result will be catastrophe for all of us, with the poorest in our world hit hardest of all. In this sense, it is surely comparable to war.
“The lives of billions of people depend on your response and none of us will be forgiven by our children and grandchildren if we falter and fail.”
The prince called for a public-private partnership of banks, insurance companies and pension funds to join with international financial institutions to offer incentives to combat deforestation.
He claimed the destruction of 20 million hectares of forest a year is responsible for a large proportion of the world’s greenhouse gases, blamed for global warming as well as the loss of water and plant life.
Charles previously set up his own Rainforests Project with the support of 12 major companies and the World Bank to try to find a way of combating deforestation.
The prince met with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to discuss climate change on Wednesday (13.02.08).
