Prince Charles has urged for "swift and immediate" action to tackle climate change in a new video message.
The 71-year-old royal and longtime environmentalist has recorded a speech to kick-off the virtual opening of Climate Week, in which he warned that the impact of climate change will "dwarf" that of the coronavirus pandemic if we "miss the window of opportunity to reset".
In the clip filmed in the grounds of Balmoral in Scotland, Charles said: "Without swift and immediate action, at an unprecedented pace and scale, we will miss the window of opportunity to ‘reset’ for … a more sustainable and inclusive future.
"[The environmental] crisis has been with us for far too many years – decried, denigrated and denied.
"It is now rapidly becoming a comprehensive catastrophe that will dwarf the impact of the coronavirus pandemic."
The Prince of Wales’ speech comes after it was announced that his son, Prince William, is to give a virtual TED talk on climate change.
The Duke of Cambridge will join a star-studded panel at TED’s Countdown Global Launch on 10 October where he and the likes of Jaden Smith, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and Al Gore will discuss with engineers, environmentalists and activists how the world can tackle global warming to ensure a better future for the planet.
The 38-year-old royal will take part in the fourth and final session of the conference, which is titled ‘Breakthroughs’ and described as "exploring the nexus of protection, regeneration and transformation using powerful examples."
An online description of the meeting continued: "The world around us is mainly made of two things: nature and the materials that we extract from it.
"To fight climate change, we need to protect and regenerate nature and transform materials into low or zero-carbon alternatives."
Part of the conference’s overall aim is to work to find a way to decrease greenhouse gas emissions by half by the year 2030.
The event will be streamed live online on YouTube, with further events planned throughout 2021 ahead of the Countdown Summit in Edinburgh next October.