Buckingham Palace announced on Wednesday that King Charles III will give a statement at the COP28 climate conference’s inauguration in the United Arab Emirates.
The longtime environmentalist gave a speech at COP26 in Scotland in 2021, but was not present at the most recent meeting in Egypt, allegedly due to opposition from UK prime minister Liz Truss.
The World Climate Action Summit, a two-week annual summit that brings together world leaders, will open with a presentation by King, a longtime supporter of more aggressive action to battle climate change.
He will be attending a COP conference for the first time in his capacity as King. There was uncertainty last year on whether Prince of Wales will attend the COP27 meeting in Egypt, despite his significant diplomatic role at the COP26 in 2021, which the United Kingdom hosted. Eventually, Downing Street acknowledged that he would not be attending because it was not the “right occasion.”
According to Buckingham Palace, the King will attend this year “at the request” of the British government and “at the invitation” of UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
According to a statement from the palace, he will “take the opportunity to have meetings with regional leaders” before to his speech at the summit on Friday, December 1.
