"He made more than a third of his speech on the climate transition! He must be one of the only kings to be so committed to the issue," she whispers, a bit admiring. Green MP Sabrina Sebaihi was not the last to applaud during the minute and a half standing ovation offered to King Charles, Thursday morning, by the 300 deputies and senators gathered in the Senate.
In his historic speech, the first by a British sovereign in a French parliamentary precinct, King Charles III called on the French and British to "work together to protect the world" from "climate change and the catastrophic destruction of nature," which he called "the greatest existential challenge of all."
VIDEO. Visit of Charles III: long standing ovation for the king at the French Senate
During his 18-minute speech, during which he switched from French to English, the king, with his long-standing environmental convictions, did not hesitate to quote in the text Commander Cousteau and to evoke the memory of the entente cordiale between the United Kingdom and the France, whose 120th anniversary will be celebrated in 2024. "Let us renew it for future generations so that it becomes, I propose, also an agreement for sustainability, to respond more effectively to the global emergency in terms of climate and biodiversity," he invited. Royal statements that come the day after the serious brake of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on his climate commitments and before the high mass that Emmanuel Macron will devote Monday to ecological planning.
Charles III also invited companies "to invest billions" for "clean growth" and called for "strengthening cooperation on sustainable development" between members of the Commonwealth and the International Organization of La Francophonie. For his 35th official visit to France, the sovereign also celebrated the "long friendship" uniting the France and the United Kingdom. And delivered vibrant support for Ukrainians at war. "Together we are unwavering in our determination that Ukraine will triumph and that our cherished freedoms will prevail," said Charles III.
