This member of the British Royal Family has a vital message if we are to save the planet

Jan 22, 2020

$H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, The Prince of Wales, speaking at the Special Address by H.R.H. The Prince of Wales Session at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2020 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 22 January. Congress Center - Congress Hall\rCopyright by World Economic Forum / Christian Clavadetscher$

H.R.H. The Prince of Wales addresses Davos.

Joe Myers

Writer, Forum Agenda

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Sustainable Development

This article is part of: World Economic Forum Annual Meeting

H.R.H. The Prince of Wales launched his Sustainable Markets intiative in Davos.
Climate change, global warming and biodiversity loss are the greatest threat humanity has ever faced.
The one critical lesson we have to learn from the crisis is to work in harmony with 'nature's economy'.

H.R.H. The Prince of Wales told the World Economic Forum on Wednesday afternoon that the one critical lesson we have to learn from the climate crisis "is that nature is not a separate asset class."

"Nature is, in fact, the lifeblood of our financial markets and, as such, we must rapidly realign our own economy to mimic nature's economy and work in harmony with it," H.R.H explained.

Humanity's greatest ever threat

Prince Charles couldn't have been clearer on the extent of the challenge.

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"Global warming, climate change and the devastating loss of biodiversity are the greatest threats humanity has ever faced," he said.

To secure our future, we need to evolve our economic models, and so in Davos, H.R.H. launched his Sustainable Markets initative.

It's time for our economic models to evolve Image: Sustainable Markets

Sustainable markets

The initiative aims to put people and planet at the top of global value creation, to generate long-term value through the balance of natural, social, human and financial capital.

It means putting genuine sustainability at the centre of our business models, our analysis, our decisions and our actions, H.R.H. explained.

It will be his focus for 2020 and beyond, he added.

The time to act is now

Prince Charles concluded by asking the audience: "do we want to go down in history as the people who did nothing to bring the world back from the brink? In time to restore the balance when we could have done?"

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What’s the World Economic Forum doing about climate change?

Climate change poses an urgent threat demanding decisive action. Communities around the world are already experiencing increased climate impacts, from droughts to floods to rising seas. The World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report continues to rank these environmental threats at the top of the list.

To limit global temperature rise to well below 2°C and as close as possible to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, it is essential that businesses, policy-makers, and civil society advance comprehensive near- and long-term climate actions in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The World Economic Forum's Climate Initiative supports the scaling and acceleration of global climate action through public and private-sector collaboration. The Initiative works across several workstreams to develop and implement inclusive and ambitious solutions.

This includes the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, a global network of business leaders from various industries developing cost-effective solutions to transitioning to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy. CEOs use their position and influence with policy-makers and corporate partners to accelerate the transition and realize the economic benefits of delivering a safer climate.

He went on to explain that everything he has tried to do and urge over the previous 50 years has been with "our children and grandchildren in mind because I did not want to be accused by them of doing nothing except prevaricate and deny the problem."

But he said, that's exactly what leaders are being accused of.

"We simply cannot waste anymore time ... the time to act is now."

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