King Charles’s “visionary leadership” on climate issues has been commended by an international delegate.
Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the United Kingdom, Elin Suleymanov, attended St James’s Palace earlier this week as the King hosted a reception dedicated to addressing super pollutants to mark London Climate Action Week.
The reception, held in the Throne Room and arranged by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, drew significant praise from Cop29 president Mukhtar Babayev, who declared the monarch a “global inspiration.”
While Mr Suleymanov stopped short of admitting a friendship with the monarch, he lauded the King’s efforts to draw attention to environmental issues.
Speaking to GB News, the ambassador said the King’s “commitment to environment and to climate change is very inspirational.”
“I think he has a great convening power to bring people together,” Mr Suleymanov added.
Some 250 distinguished guests joined Mr Suleymanov, Mr Babayev and the King in London on Thursday, including UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley.
Mr Guterres’ attendance “sends a message that we cannot just forget the fact that climate change remains a major challenge”.
“I think [the King] is a very important voice, a very important advocate, and it’s extremely admirable,” Mr Suleymanov stated.
“I think he should be commended for such visionary leadership on this.”
Mr Suleymanov initially travelled to the UK to celebrate the King’s Official Birthday earlier this month – a tradition he described as “a great reminder of the grand British culture.”
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, extended his congratulations to the monarch and expressed his gratitude for the “friendship, mutual respect and trust” the relationship boasts.
Mr Suleymanov described the association with the monarch and late Queen Elizabeth II as “important,” explaining: “It goes beyond immediate politics. It goes beyond just current affairs. It’s very much focused on the bilateral partnership, which is long-term.”
The King has long championed environmental causes. Dating back to 1970, one of his first public speeches as a 21-year-old, the then-Prince of Wales warned a Welsh crowd of oil and chemical pollution.
“There is chemical pollution, discharged into rivers from factories and chemical plants, which clogs up the rivers with toxic substances, and adds to the filth in the seas,” he said.
At the time, the monarch had just introduced The Prince of Wales Countryside Award, which was to be presented to organisations that have promoted projects that provide a contribution to the “general quality and beauty of the environment in Wales”.
More than five decades on, despite his accession to the throne, the King’s support for such important issues has remained unwavering.
“He manages to channel a lot of attention to this matter,” Mr Suleymanov continued. “Focusing on a very specific matter of superpollution, such as methane emissions, and others.
“Those important issues, and the fact that the King is there, and he focuses on that; he brings people together. Now, this issue matters; it matters for the future of this world.”
As the King made his way through the exhibitions and guests in the Throne Room on Wednesday, a senior royal aide could be seen holding a handheld fan to his face due to the extreme weather conditions.
The UK has been battered by a sweltering heatwave this week, with temperatures reaching records of up to 37.3C.
Across Europe, temperature records have been smashed as authorities cancelled concerts and public events due to health risks.
Germany became one of the many nations to record its highest-ever temperature, reaching 41.3C, while the World Meteorological Organisation warned of “major impacts”, with spokeswoman Clare Nullis conceding: “We need to get used to it, unfortunately.”
Mr Suleymanov felt the image of the King sweating in the extreme heat was particularly poignant.
“If anybody needed a reminder, the Almighty has delivered the message, I think, loud and clear,” he concluded.
“I think that was a very poignant image, and it’s probably a symbolic reminder for all of us. Even in that image, His Majesty conveyed a message that climate change is real.”
