Charles Wants 'Tough Decisions' On Climate

Prince Charles has told a gathering of business leaders and investors in the City they must make "tough choices" that will make them unpopular to halt climate change.

In his first public engagement since comparing the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler, the Prince of Wales delivered a speech at the "Inclusive Capitalism" conference at the Mansion House and Guildhall in London.

He told the conference, whose members represented 37 countries and who have a combined asset worth of $30trn: "We stand at a pivotal moment".

"Either we continue on the path we seem collectively determined to follow, apparently at the mercy of those who vociferously and aggressively deny that our current model has any effect upon dangerously accelerating climate change, which I fear will bring us to our own destruction, or we can choose to act now before it is finally too late," he said.

Sticking to the script, Prince Charles avoided any reference to comments he made last week in Canada in which he was reported to have compared Mr Putin's actions in Ukraine with those of the Nazi leader during World War Two.

Referring to the creation of an inclusive, sustainable and resilient society, the Prince said: "There will be tough choices to make, and, take it from me, in the short term, you will not be popular with your peers.

"But if you stand firm and take the kind of action that is needed, I have every confidence the rewards will be immense."

The conference, attended by keynote speakers former US President Bill Clinton, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney, is the brainchild of Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild - chief executive of E. L. Rothschild.

The Prince began by telling the conference he was "somewhat bewildered be being asked to join such a stratospheric group of financial, economic and business experts".

He said: "At the end of the day, the primary purpose of capitalism should surely be to serve the wider long-term interests and concerns of humanity, rather than the other way round."