UK’s Prince William ramps up pressure for COP26 summit

Gulf Today Report 

Britain's Prince William on Thursday praised his father Charles for being "well ahead of the curve" on climate change, as the pair ramped up pressure ahead of the upcoming COP26 summit in Glasgow.

"He's had a really rough ride on that, and I think you know he's been proven to being well ahead of the curve, well beyond his time in warning about some of these dangers," William told the BBC.

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"But it shouldn't be that there's a third generation now coming along having to ramp it up even more," he added.

"It would be an absolute disaster if (my son) George is sat here talking to you... in like 30 years' time, still saying the same thing, because by then we will be too late."

Prince William interacts with children from The Heathlands School during a visit in London on Wednesday. AFP

Britain's Prince William has taken a thinly veiled swipe at the billionaires embroiled in a space tourism race, saying the world's greatest brains should instead be focused on solving the environmental problems facing the Earth.

During a BBC interview aired on Thursday, William appeared to criticise Jeff Bezos, the world's richest person, Elon Musk and Briton Richard Branson, whose rival ventures are all vying to usher in a new era of private commercial space travel.

"We need some of the world's greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live," William said of the space race.

His comments come after Musk has spoken about missions to Mars, and Bezos described his inaugural space flight in July as part of building a road to space "so that our kids and their kids can build a future".

"We need to do that to solve the problems here on Earth," said Bezos, who on Wednesday celebrated sending Star Trek actor William Shatner into space in his New Shepard spacecraft.

Richard Branson (left) and Elon Musk.

Speaking out on green issues has become a major feature of the British royal family, and William, 39, is following in the footsteps of his late grandfather Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth's husband, and his father, Prince Charles.

The UN summit will try to persuade major developing economies to do more to cut their carbon emissions, and get the rich world to cough up billions more dollars to help poorer countries adapt to climate change.

"The risks now are so great if you don't make the right move. It'll be catastrophic," said Charles.

"It is already beginning to be catastrophic, because nothing in nature can survive the stress that is created by these extremes of weather," he added.

Charles, whose Highgrove estate in western England has an entirely organic garden and farm, also outlined some of his own actions to reduce his carbon footprint, including cutting down on meat and fish.

In 2008, his office revealed he had converted an Aston Martin car he owns to run on biofuel made from surplus English white wine and whey from cheese manufacturing.