Prince of Wales will travel to Davos forum in electric car

The Prince of Wales is to travel by electric car to the World Economic Forum in Davos, where climate change has been high on the agenda.

Charles will deliver a keynote speech at the forum in Switzerland on Wednesday to officially launch his Sustainable Markets Council (SMC), an ambitious project to help financial markets become more sustainable.

US President Donald Trump and teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg have already clashed at Davos over their views on the key theme of climate change.

Mr Trump flew to the Swiss Alps on a Marine One helicopter, landing where “Act On Climate” was written in the snow.

The president used his speech at the forum to attack climate “prophets of doom” and snubbed their “predictions of the apocalypse” in favour of “optimism” for the future.

Soon after he spoke, 17-year-old Greta introduced a talk on “Averting a Climate Apocalypse”, in which she scolded the elites for not doing enough to deal with the climate crisis.

Meanwhile, a DUP MP hit out at “climate hypocrites” who will “zoom into Davos” in private jets.

Speaking during Commons BEIS questions, Sammy Wilson said: “This week, thousands of climate hypocrites will zoom into Davos in hundreds of private jets to lecture the world about stopping consuming fossil fuel, oblivious to their own hypocritical behaviour.”

Charles, who last attended Davos in 1992, created the SMC in June 2019, with the support of the World Economic Forum, to accelerate a transition to sustainable markets and a decarbonised global economy.

The SMC will connect business and charity leaders with philanthropists and sustainability experts to encourage greener future investments.

The aims outlined in the SMC are linked with wider global agendas, including the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Climate Agreement, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the biodiversity agenda.

His speech comes ahead of his first official tour of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories later this week.

The heir to the throne will deliver a speech at the World Holocaust Forum being staged at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre in Jerusalem, on Thursday.