King Charles is set to miss COP29 amid the monarch’s ongoing cancer treatment.
The monarch is known for being a lifelong environmentalist, and organisers of the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference had hoped he would be able to attend the event in Azerbaijan.
At the last summit, the King warned the world remains “dreadfully far off track” in key climate targets from the Paris Agreement in 2015 and called for change.
Despite the King’s plans to skip COP29, he is due to travel to Australia with Queen Camilla next week for a royal tour.
It is understood that the Government has decided not to ask King Charles to represent the country this year.
Sources told The Mirror that Number 10 felt “an abundance of caution” was needed given the monarch’s current health battle.
They said: “The King will not be going to COP. He has not been asked by the Government to attend the event and he is also mindful of his own commitments following the upcoming autumn tour.”
The King has always been a keen environmentalist – a trait he passed to both his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.
King Charles speaking at COP28 in 2023
PA
Speaking in a video address shown at the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month, the Prince of Wales spoke of the “grave threat” the planet is facing.
In the same week the royal announced the 15 finalists of his prestigious annual Earthshot Prize Awards.
William spoke about how his travels around the globe had seen him “humbled by the Earth’s extraordinary beauty”.
In-between his weekly treatments in London, the King mostly spends his time in Scotland, “immersing himself in nature to aid his recovery”.
King Charles has always been a keen environmentalist
PA
King Charles has been receiving cancer treatment as an outpatient at an undisclosed hospital since February
Getty
Last year, Charles was the only foreign Head of State invited to speak at the climate action meeting of global leaders, in honour of the work he has been undertaking in the environmental field for decades.
On Monday, it was announced the King’s doctors are allowing him to “pause” his cancer treatment in order to fly to Australia for a high-profile royal visit next week.