Prince Charles and Prince William Have 'Parallel' Plans to Tackle Environmental Issues This Year

Prince Charles and his son Prince William both have the environment in their sights this year.

Charles has just joined William in announcing a new initiative to help bring forward fresh ideas to tackle the world’s environmental issues.

Seeing 2020 as a “year of action,” as one palace aide calls it, Charles is launching his new Sustainable Markets Council at the World Economic Forum’s meeting at Davos in the Swiss Alps later this month.

The council was founded by the prince, 71, along with the WEF to bring together leading “international figures from the private, public and philanthropic sectors,” Charles’s office announced on Monday.

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James Veysey/Shutterstock
James Veysey/Shutterstock

The council hopes to build an international coalition that can have “significant impact” and identify solutions to de-carbonizing the world and help the move towards a more “sustainable footing.”

“There is now agreement on the problem, and the prince is really focused on solutions,” deputy private secretary Scott Furssedonn-Wood said at a briefing at the prince’s London home, Clarence House.

The announcement comes a week after Prince William, 37, kicked off his search for leading innovators and reward new ideas via his Earthshot prize.

Both have the same aims – of “finding solutions,” so they don’t clash, Furssedonn-Wood insisted.

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“There is no monopoly on action. As long as everyone is pointing in the right direction on this,” he said. “The prince and [William] are delighted that they have parallel opportunities to pursue the same objectives.”

Charles will attend Davos en route to Israel, to which he is traveling in a private chartered aircraft mainly for security reasons. The royal is determined not to add unnecessarily to any carbon footprint, so the prince is only doing so because he is able to stop off during his journey to Israel, palace sources said. They point out that he is planning on taking the drive from the airport to Davos in an electric car.