King Charles sidesteps problems from past as he warns of bleak climate future

King Charles III has urged Commonwealth leaders from 50 nations to act faster on climate change to avoid a future of division and conflict – and gained swift support from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for speaking up despite rebukes from conservative critics.

In his second major speech this week to call for a cut to greenhouse gas emissions, the King went further than remarks he made in Canberra on Monday by describing a world of deepening inequality unless leaders did more to act on the problem.

The King used his most important address to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa on Friday to warn of the threat of disinformation and the risk to young people from the negative impacts of technology, while he sidestepped calls to apologise for Britain’s role in slavery.

The King’s speech came on a day of high ceremony for political leaders and a cultural display from the Samoan hosts, amid doubts about whether the group can agree on a communique on contentious issues such as climate change and the past wrongs of the British Empire.

“We are well past believing it is a problem for the future, since it is already, already undermining the development gains we have long fought for,” the King said of climate change.

“This year alone, we have seen terrifying storms in the Caribbean, devastating flooding in East Africa and catastrophic wildfires in Canada. Lives, livelihoods and human rights are at risk across the Commonwealth.”

King Charles opens the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting on October 25, 2024 in Apia, Samoa.Credit: Getty Images

The King encouraged leaders to cut emissions, build resilience against the consequences of climate change, and conserve nature.

“If we do not, then inequalities across the Commonwealth and beyond would only be exacerbated, with the potential to fuel division and conflict,” he said.

Some Coalition MPs expressed their doubts about the King’s views on climate change after his address to Parliament in Canberra on Monday, with Nationals senator Matt Canavan telling The Australian the monarch should stay out of political debates. Nationals MP Keith Pitt said Australia was fortunate the King was not in charge of the energy network.

Charles III greeting a performer at the King’s Garden on the grounds of the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum. Credit: POOL

Albanese defended the King for addressing climate change and noted that one of the leaders who had spoken up first on the problem was Margaret Thatcher, the conservative prime minister of the United Kingdom four decades ago.

“With very few exceptions, climate change is above politics. It is about the existential threat that exists to countries like Tuvalu and Kiribati,” he said.

Albanese said the King was prepared to engage in debate about the modern world and said this brought him credit.

The King gave the address on the first day of the meeting in Apia, Samoa’s capital. His schedule also included a visit to open a garden in his name on the grounds of the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum, the former home of the 19th Century Scottish writer known for Treasure Island and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

As well as addressing climate change, the King mentioned the pressures on young people from the negative aspects of technology, without elaborating on issues such as age verification for social media, and touched on misinformation and extremism.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) attend the opening ceremony of CHOGM. Credit: Getty Images

This Commonwealth meeting has been characterised by the absence of national leaders from some countries – India, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Canada – as well as a debate about whether the King and the United Kingdom should apologise for slavery.

While Charles has previously expressed his deep regret over slavery, he did not address the question directly in his remarks on Friday and instead made a more oblique reference to the past.

“Our cohesion requires that we acknowledge where we have come from,” he said. “I understand from listening to people across the Commonwealth how the most painful aspects of our past continue to resonate.”

He said history should guide better choices in future on issues such as inequality, using “the right ways and the right language to address them”.

Asked about the slavery debate at CHOGM and Australia’s colonial history, Albanese acknowledged that “blackbirding” — the forced transport of Pacific Islanders to work in Australia — was a “sorry chapter in Australia’s history”, as former prime minister Paul Keating said in 1994.

Albanese announced a pact with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to address climate change on Friday morning when they held talks on the sidelines of the meeting.

The agreement, called the Climate and Energy Partnership, is meant to quicken the development of renewable energy, such as green hydrogen and offshore wind, by sharing technologies between the two countries. The Australian component includes $7.5 million of grants for green hydrogen projects.

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