Prince Charles in Davos: We need a new economic model or the planet will burn

“We can’t go on like this, with every month a new record for soaking temperatures,” he told CNN in an exclusive interview with the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “If we leave it too long, and we have, it’s going to become difficult to grow things.”

The British heir to the throne and longtime environmentalist spoke to CNN after challenging global business and finance elites in Davos to lead a “paradigm shift, which inspires action at levels and at a pace revolutionaries “to avoid the impending catastrophe. .

“Do we want to make history as people who did nothing to bring the world back from the brink in time to restore balance when we could have? he declared. told the audience at the 50th annual WEF meeting.

“And think for a moment – what good is all the extra wealth in the world, gained through ‘business as usual,’ if there is nothing you can do with it but watch it burn in catastrophic conditions? “

This year alone, huge forest fires exacerbated by climate change have devastated vast swathes of land in Australia and killed millions of animals. Recent research shows that the world’s oceans absorb as much heat as that generated by five atomic bombs every second. Toxic smog continues to suffocate Indian cities despite say again the government’s promises of cleaner air, and the past decade has been the warmest in recorded history.

The climate crisis grabbed the headlines on the first full day of this week’s meeting in Davos. Teenage activist Greta Thunberg on Tuesday berated the economic and political elite for doing “basically nothing” to reduce the carbon emissions that fuel global warming.

Speaking later, President Donald Trump – who withdrew the United States from the 2015 Paris climate agreement – signed a global initiative to plant 1,000 billion trees, but called activists of the climate of “eternal prophets of doom” and “heirs of yesterday”. foolish fortune tellers. ”He said breakthroughs resulting from dynamic market economies could solve any problem.

Prince Charles, who discussed climate change with Trump last summer, first met Thunberg after his speech.

“She’s remarkable, she’s one of the main reasons I’ve tried to put all of this effort all these years,” he told CNN. “I’ve always worried that so often, in terms of humanity, we leave things too late, so you’ve got to run up against a brick wall and go through a disaster before anything happens.”

The Prince of Wales used Wednesday’s speech to launch its “Sustainable Markets Initiative”. He said urgent action was needed to reconfigure markets to place people and the planet “at the heart of global value creation”.

Prince Charles first met climate activist Greta Thunberg on Wednesday.

Britain’s next head of state, who gave his first environmental speech in 1968, said bold and imaginative action was needed to tackle the greatest threat humanity has ever faced. He presented a 10 point plan to put the natural world at the heart of the business world.

“Nature’s contribution to the global economy is estimated at $ 125 trillion per year,” he said. “Nature is, in fact, the lifeblood of our financial markets and, as such, we must – quickly – realign our own economy to mimic nature’s economy and work in harmony with it.”

The measures advocated by the prince include the cancellation of harmful subsidies, investment in technological innovation, the creation of new sustainable products and services and greater consumer transparency in supply chains.

Last year’s world climate summit in Madrid saw some progress in tackling the crisis, but fell short of what many climate activists and scientists expected and failed to finalize the rules of a new global carbon market – a key part of the Paris agreement.

The big American bankers do not want to lead the fight against the climate

Some of the world’s biggest companies have made some eye-catching promises in recent weeks. Microsoft (MSFT) said it plans to go “negative” emissions by 2030 as a step towards eradicating all of its historic carbon footprint. And Black rock (BLACK), which manages $ 7 trillion in assets, has pledged to abandon investments it sees as a sustainability risk.

Prince Charles said he would convene a series of talks across a range of industries with innovators, investors and policymakers to help design a new course and form a global alliance to mobilize the trillions of dollars needed to get the economy “back on track.” path.”

“I intend to do everything possible to ensure that the message of urgency, of systemic change, of collaboration and of inclusion is heard,” he said. “We just can’t waste any more time – the only limit is our willingness to act, and the time to act is now.”

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