King Charles says world heading for ‘dangerous uncharted territory’ at global leaders summit

King Charles III told world leaders Friday that the warning signs of the climate crisis are being ignored and that the world is heading for “dangerous uncharted territory,” with devastating consequences for lives and livelihoods.

Delivering an opening address to delegates at the World Climate Action Summit, part of the COP28 summit in Dubai, the King said he prayed “with all my heart that COP28 will be a critical turning point towards genuine transformational action.”

“Some important progress has been made but it worries me greatly that we remain so dreadfully far off track,” he said, adding, “we are taking the natural world outside balanced norms and limits and into dangerous uncharted territory.”

Referring to this year’s climate change-fueled extreme weather, including Canada’s unprecedented wildfire season, deadly flooding in Pakistan and Bangladesh and catastrophic drought in East Africa, the King told delegates that the “hope of the world” rested on decisions taken at the summit.

“We are carrying out a vast, frightening experiment of changing every ecological condition all at once as a pace that far outstrips nature’s ability to cope,” he said.

The King called for a series of measures, including a ramp-up of public and private finance, to tackle the climate crisis and rapidly increase renewable energy.

“In 2050, our grandchildren won’t be asking what we said, they will be living with the consequences of what we did or didn’t do,” he said. “The Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth,” he added.

UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who has already spoken at the ceremony, announced a $30 billion green investment fund, “designed to bridge the climate finance gap.”

Developing nations have long pushed the rich world to channel more financing to the global south to help it make the green transition. He spoke in Dubai, where the UAE is hosting the talks.

After a year of record global temperatures, fueling deadly extreme weather, the pressure is high at COP28 for leaders to make ambitious progress on tackling the climate crisis. But countries still remain divided about the role fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change, will play in the future.

COP28, which opened Thursday, started with a significant development as countries formally adopted a damage fund, decades in the making, to help nations hit hardest by the climate crisis.

Among countries making immediate commitments were the United Arab Emirates and Germany, both of which pledged $100 million, and the UK, which announced £60million, part of which will be used for “other arrangements,” according to the news release. The US announced a commitment of $17.5 million, which some experts and advocacy groups said was “embarrassing.”

World leaders including India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazil’s President Lula Da Silva, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley are due to address delegates later.