King Charles III will not be attending next month’s Cop27 climate change summit in Egypt, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.
Charles has a longstanding and passionate commitment to environmental issues. As Prince of Wales, he addressed the Cop26 summit in Glasgow last year. His elder son, William, the then-Duke of Cambridge, also spoke at the event, while Queen Elizabeth recorded an opening address urging world leaders to take action on climate change.
After Charles became king following the death of Queen Elizabeth last month, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry told the BBC that he “very much” hopes Charles would continue to talk about climate change as king.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, a Labor politician, also said he would be “very comfortable” with the king expressing views on the “importance of climate change.”
But according to a Sunday Times report, King Charles will not attend this year’s summit, to be held in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, after Prime Minister Liz Truss raised objections during an audience with the monarch at the Palace last month.
In response to media inquiries, the Palace confirmed that advice had been sought by the king and given by Truss.
“With mutual friendship and respect there was agreement that the king would not attend,” the Palace said in a statement.
Decision Made ‘Amicably’
Downing Street has declined to comment on the matter. A spokeswoman said, “We do not comment on meetings between the prime minister and the king.”But a Cabinet minister denied claims that Truss ordered the king to stay away from the climate summit.
Simon Clarke, the secretary of state for levelling up, housing, and communities, said, “this is a decision that has been made consensually between the king and the government.”
“That is a decision that has been made amicably, as far as I am aware, between the Palace and the government. The suggestions this morning that he was ordered to stay away are simply not true,” he told Times Radio on Sunday.
Explaining why the royals featured prominently at Cop26 in Glasgow but are not allowed to attend Cop27 in Egypt, Clarke said: “I think it is very different when you are the host country for a major event like Cop to have the head of state involved as opposed to the head of state going to what is an event being hosted in Egypt. It is the normal course of matters that this would be handled by the government rather than by the monarchy.”
But the government has insisted the UK remains committed to its net-zero emission targets.
Conservative Party chairman Jake Berry told Sky News on Sunday: “The government remains committed to the net-zero target by 2050.”
