UK

King to attend Cop28 after missing last year’s climate change conference

Charles delivered a speech during the opening ceremony for the Cop26 summit in Glasgow (Yves Herman/PA)
Charles delivered a speech during the opening ceremony for the Cop26 summit in Glasgow (Yves Herman/PA)

The King is to play a key role once again at the international climate change conference.

Charles will travel to Dubai to deliver the opening address at the World Climate Action Summit at Cop28 in the UAE on December 1.

The monarch missed Cop27 in Egypt last year following advice from the Government while Liz Truss was prime minister, despite it being widely reported he had hoped to attend in person.

Queen Elizabeth II death
The King with the then-prime minister Liz Truss at Buckingham Palace (Yui Mok/PA)

As the Prince of Wales, he spent decades passionately campaigning on green and environmental issues.

Downing Street later acknowledged it might have been possible for the head of state to go if Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had been in office earlier in the year.

Buckingham Palace announced Charles, who is away on a state visit to Kenya, will travel to the UAE and open the World Climate Action Summit, which forms part of Cop28’s programme and convenes heads of state and government and other leaders to discuss concrete plans for tackling climate change.

As the Prince of Wales, he previously had a more central role, delivering the opening address at the main opening ceremony of Cop26 in Glasgow in 2021 and Cop21 in Paris in 2015.

The King was invited by UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and will attend at the request of the UK Government, the Palace said.

Charles, who will make the trip from November 30 to December 1, will also attend a reception on November 30 to the launch the inaugural Cop28 Business and Philanthropy Climate Forum.

The two-day event runs parallel with the summit and is being hosted by the Cop28 Presidency in partnership with the Sustainable Markets Initiative, founded by the King.

It will bring together business, finance and philanthropy leaders and world leaders to try to find climate solutions.

The King will also hold meetings with regional leaders ahead of the summit.