REIGN FOREST

William asks world leaders to halt climate and environment crises at COP30 in the Amazon

- BY RUSSELL MYERS

PRINCE William yesterday urged the world to unite at this pivotal moment in history to save the planet from climate change and environmental destruction.

He joined global leaders in Belem city, at the heart of the Amazon, imploring them to recognise "a moment that demands courage, cooperation and unwavering commitment to our planet's future".

Following the last night of his Earthshot Prize awards in Rio de Janeiro, William flew with PM Keir Starmer to northeast Brazil for the COP30 climate conference.

In a speech written with the King, William warned of environments in crisis and communities around the world threatened with extinction.

He said: "All of us here today understand that we are edging dangerously close to the Earth's critical tipping points ... thresholds beyond which the natural systems we depend on may begin to unravel.

"The melting of polar ice, the loss of the Amazon, the disruption of ocean currents ... these are not distant threats.