King Charles to Address COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai
Buckingham Palace has announced that King Charles III will participate in the UN's COP28 climate summit in Dubai this year and will deliver an address during the opening ceremony.
In the previous year, the UK government, under the leadership of then-Prime Minister Liz Truss, had advised King Charles against attending the 2022 annual talks, which took place in Egypt. It was reported at the time that after consultations with the government, it was mutually decided that the climate summit was not the appropriate occasion for the King's first overseas visit as sovereign.
With few world leaders confirming their attendance at the event, it remains uncertain whether US President Joe Biden will travel to the United Arab Emirates for the summit.
King Charles III, aged 74, will present his address on December 1 and engage with regional leaders, according to the palace. His visit occurs amid high tensions in the Middle East due to the Israel-Gaza conflict potentially affecting neighboring countries.
The palace statement reads, "The King will attend the Opening Ceremony of the World Climate Action Summit at COP28 UAE, at the invitation of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and at the request of His Majesty’s Government, on Friday 1st December 2023."
During his visit to the UAE, King Charles will also attend a reception to launch the inaugural COP28 Business and Philanthropy Climate Forum, a two-day event held alongside the UN summit. This forum is hosted by the COP28 presidency in strategic partnership with King Charles' Sustainable Markets Initiative, which he initiated during his time as Prince of Wales.
The high-level forum's objective is to bring together global leaders, as well as figures from the business, finance, and philanthropic sectors, to advance climate and nature solutions and outcomes.
King Charles III has been an avid advocate for environmental and climate causes for over five decades. He attended the COP26 climate talks in 2021 as the Prince of Wales, where he called on countries to collaborate with industry to develop solutions to the climate crisis. During his speech at COP26, he emphasized that the world must adopt a "war-like footing" to combat climate change and biodiversity loss.
In the previous year, instead of attending COP27, King Charles convened business leaders, experts, and non-governmental organizations for a pre-COP reception at Buckingham Palace in London. He eventually embarked on his first state visits as monarch, which took him to Germany and France.
The King was a prominent supporter of the 2015 Paris Climate Accord and discussed the agreement's significance with President Donald Trump in December 2019, as the US leader was preparing to withdraw his country from the pact.
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