King Charles to attend COP28 opening ceremony, give opening address at World Climate Summit

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King Charles, the reigning monarch of the UK will attend the opening ceremony of the upcoming UN climate conference – COP28. The climate summit is being hosted by the UAE in Dubai this year.

Charles will deliver the opening address at the World Climate Action Summit, a gathering of global leaders at the start of COP28.

This will be his first major speech on the climate crisis since becoming monarch.

The confirmation of the king’s attendance at the climate summit came after the UK government gave its assent to his attendance, as per a report by the British newspaper The Guardian.

The king was invited to attend the summit by the UAE’s president, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.  He will attend at the request of the UK government from November 30 to December 1.

Buckingham Palace said, “The king will deliver an opening address at the summit, hosted by the president of the UAE, in Dubai. While in the UAE, the king will take the opportunity to have meetings with regional leaders, ahead of Cop28.”

King Charles itirenariry

In the UAE, King Charles will attend a reception to launch the inaugural COP28 business and philanthropy climate forum. The forum is a two-day event running in parallel with the World Climate Action Summit. The forum is being held in strategic partnership with the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI), which was founded while the king was Prince of Wales.

The SMI, founded by The King, as The Prince of Wales, in 2020, is a private sector-led coalition that aims to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable future for Nature, People, and Planet.

While in the UAE, the King will take the opportunity to have meetings with regional leaders, ahead of COP28.

The King, as the Prince of Wales, previously delivered the opening address at the opening ceremony of COP26 in Glasgow in 2021 and COP21 in Paris in 2015.

During his address, he called on world leaders to adopt a “warlike footing” to tackle the climate crisis.

At COP21 in Paris in 2015, he called for a “vast military-style campaign” to fight climate breakdown, urging world leaders to commit “trillions, not billions, of dollars”.