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New crossing between Donald Trump and Greta Thunberg 1:01
(CNN Business) - Only a revolution in the way the global economy and financial markets work can save the planet from the climate crisis and ensure future prosperity, Prince Charles warned Wednesday.
"We can't go on like this, every other temperature record is broken every month," he told CNN in an exclusive interview at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. "If we leave it too long, and we have done it, just letting things grow will become difficult."
The heir to the British throne and lifelong environmentalist spoke with CNN after launching a challenge to global business and financial elites in Davos to lead a "paradigm shift, one that inspires action at revolutionary levels and pace" to avoid catastrophe ahead.
“Do we want to go down in history as people who did nothing to rescue the world and restore balance in time when we could have done it? I don't want to, ”he told the audience at the 50th annual WEF meeting.
"And just think for a moment: what is the use of all the additional wealth in the world, obtained from 'usual business', if nothing can be done with it except to see it burn in catastrophic conditions?"
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Just this year, large forest fires exacerbated by climate change have devastated huge areas of land in Australia and killed millions of animals. Recent research shows that the world's oceans are absorbing as much heat as that generated by five atomic bombs per second. The toxic tuxedo continues to suffocate the cities of India despite repeated promises of cleaner government air, and the last decade was the warmest in recorded history.
Forest fires have destroyed large areas of Australia in recent months.
The climate crisis made headlines the first full day of this week's meeting in Davos. Teen activist Greta Thunberg criticized the business and political elite on Tuesday for not doing "basically nothing" to reduce carbon emissions that are fueling global warming.
Speaking later in the day, President Donald Trump, who withdrew the United States from the Paris 2015 climate agreement, signed up for a global initiative to plant 1 billion trees, but rejected climate activists as "perennial prophets of the fatality ”and the“ heirs of the foolish fortune tellers of yesterday ”. He said that the advances that result from the dynamism of market economies are capable of solving any problem.
Prince Charles, who discussed climate change with Trump last summer, met with Thunberg for the first time after his speech.
- MORE: Trump arrives at the Davos global economic forum seeking foreign investment
"She is notable, she represents one of the main reasons why I have been trying to make all this effort all these years," he told CNN. "I have always been concerned that so often, in terms of humanity, we leave things too late for you to have to hit a brick wall and experience a catastrophe before something happens."
The Prince of Wales used Wednesday's speech to launch his "Sustainable Markets Initiative." He said urgent action was needed to reconfigure the markets to put people and the planet "at the heart of global value creation."
Britain's next head of state, who delivered his first speech on the environment in 1968, said bold and imaginative actions were needed to face the greatest threat humanity has faced. He outlined a 10-point plan to put the natural world at the heart of the business world.
"Nature's contribution to the world economy is estimated to be worth US $ 125 billion annually," he said. "Nature is, in fact, the soul of our financial markets and, as such, we must, quickly, realign our own economy to mimic nature's economy and work in harmony with it."
The steps recommended by the prince include reversing harmful subsidies, investing in technological innovation, creating new sustainable products and services, and providing consumers with much more transparency about supply chains.
Last year's world climate summit in Madrid saw some progress in the fight against the crisis, but it was well below what many climate activists and scientists had expected and failed to finalize the rules of a new global carbon market, A key element of the Paris agreement.
Prince Charles met with climate activist Greta Thunberg for the first time on Wednesday.
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There have been striking promises from some of the world's leading companies in recent weeks. Microsoft said it planned to become "negative" emissions by 2030 as a step towards eradicating its historic carbon footprint. And BlackRock, which manages $ 7 billion in assets, promised to get rid of the investments it considers a risk to sustainability.
Prince Charles said he would convene a series of discussions in a variety of industries with innovators, investors and decision makers to help design a new course and form a global alliance to mobilize the billions of dollars needed to put the economy "on the road" Right".
"I intend to do everything possible to ensure that the message of urgency, systemic change, collaboration and integration is heard," he said. "We simply cannot waste any more time: the only limit is our willingness to act, and the time to act is now."
DavosDonald TrumpGreta ThunbergPrince Carlos
