John Kerry: King Charles should attend climate summit

John Kerry: King Charles should attend climate summit
October 22, 2022, 9:00 am

King Charles III - Photo. The Royal Family's official Twitter account

King Charles should reconsider his decision not to go to the UN climate conference in Egypt, US climate envoy has told the BBC.

John Kerry said in an interview it would be "terrific" if the King were able to be there, adding that he has been "a terrific leader on this issue".

As Prince of Wales he had planned to go to November's COP27 conference. Since then, King Charles spent decades campaigning on environmental causes.

But after ascending the throne he decided not to attend on the advice of Prime Minister Liz Truss.

On Thursday (Oct 20), Liz Truss resigned an UK Prime Minister, and this means s there will now be another leadership election to decide who becomes the next Conservative leader and prime minister.

You can’t solve the problem of the ocean without dealing with the climate, and you can’t solve the problem of the climate without dealing with the ocean - John Kerry, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate

Secretary Kerry said it would ultimately be up to "whatever government is in place" to make the decision about attending the climate conference, which runs November 6-18.

Secretary Kerry said he did not consider championing climate action as "political".

"It's a generic broad, based, existential issue for the world, and his leadership has been very important", he said.

COP27: Water tops agenda of Egypt climate talks

Last November - as the Prince of Wales - the King travelled to Egypt with the government's blessing to urge the Egyptian administration on its efforts, meeting President Abdul Fattah al-Sissi.

Egypt, the hosts of the summit, warned the UK not to backtrack on the global climate agenda following the announcement that King Charles would not attend.

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