THE impacts of climate change will dwarf those of the coronavirus pandemic, says Prince Charles, who has urged world leaders to adopt a ’war-like footing’ to reduce carbon emissions.

The Duke of Cornwall was addressing the start of New York Climate Change Week, one of the only major climate change summits and events not to have been cancelled this year due to Covid-19.

He spoke of the need for business leaders and governments to form clear strategies to halt emissions, to remove subsidies from polluting industries, and to restore nature.

The Prince said that the climate crisis had for too long been “decried, denigrated and denied” by those in power, and said that the pandemic presented a window of opportunity to reset the economy for a greener future.

In September 2019, Prince Charles founded the Sustainable Markets Initiative and Council (SMI) to develop projects which encourage and accelerate industry transition to rapid decarbonisation and environmental sustainability.

This week, he’s launched RE:TV – a platform for promoting and showcasing the kind of solutions being made to balance industry with people and planet. It contains examples of how the global economic model could be reimagined, the circular economy, restoring woodland, reusing waste water and responsible growth. To find out more, visit https://www.re-tv.org/

Where humans make a profit, said the Prince, “we also have to make a profit for Nature, by putting something back.”

“I feel very strongly, that we have to develop an approach where we put Nature at the centre of the whole process. So my and your grandchildren can have some kind of reasonable future – at the moment we are literally compromising it,” he said.

“We can operate out industries far better – there is hope – but we have to get our act together. And remember that the natural world is what sustains us."