Prince Charles: rewire the global economy to stop climate change
Speaking at a event for the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), of which he is a patron, the prince complained that “the irresistible power of ‘business as usual’ has so far defeated every attempt to ‘rewire’ our economic system in ways that will deliver what we so urgently need”.
He said: “Yet if we are to limit climate change, conserve resources and keep ecosystems functioning, while at the same time improving the health and wellbeing of billions of people – including the several billion who are projected to be added later this century – then we will need to see profound changes.”
The prince also attacked what he characterised as the wastefulness of modern society. “The challenge now is to go much further and much faster, progressively eliminating waste by developing a circular economy that mimics nature’s loops and cycles, rather than perpetuating our largely unsustainable and linear way of doing things,” he said...
... At the event, the prince unveiled a report from the CISL. It argued the world’s current course revealed “a monumental market failure” and that “there seems to be a strategic chasm between where the world agrees it should be headed and the direction of the economy”. The report made a series of recommendations that would affect business, include raising green taxes, requiring companies to reveal their environmental impacts and ending the damage caused by short-term profit-seeking...
/... http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/02/prince-charles-climate-change-rewire-global-economy
(The good read is the report linked from the article (the 'Prince Charles' trademark used here to call media attention, you'll notice) - more direct link: http://www.cisl.cam.ac.uk/publications/rewiring-the-economy-ten-tasks-ten-years
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Despite many business leaders engaging with their peers, politicians and policymakers to turn sustainability ambition into practice, inequality is still rising, ecosystems are being degraded, resources depleted and greenhouse gas levels are climbing. These trends are detrimental to environments, communities, businesses and long-term economic performance.
For economies to overcome these challenges there is a clear need to tilt operating conditions in favour of sustainable business practice.
Rewiring the Economy is the University of Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership (CISL)’s ten-year plan to lay the foundations of a sustainable economy. It is built on ten interconnected tasks, delivered by three key groups of leaders: government, finance and business. These tasks are not unique to the plan. Rather, Rewiring the Economy shows how they can be tackled co-operatively over the next decade to create an economy that encourages sustainable business practices and delivers positive outcomes for people and societies.
Clearly these fundamental tasks will need to be sensitive to very different institutional and geographic contexts around the world. It is our ambition to work with leaders from across our global network to explore how best to reflect this, through our focus areas of leadership development, business model innovation, sustainable finance and a just transition to a low carbon economy. Beyond our network, we would like the plan to become a strategic compass bearing for governments, businesses and finance leaders around the world, inspiring new collaborations and enabling a fundamental change in how the global economy is harnessed for social and environmental good.
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Holy shit, a member of the English nobility said something progressive?
Me too. I just watched The Queen last night with Helen Mirren again.
And was impressed with Prince Charles' common sense and decency in the whole tragic event of Dianna's death. I believe he is a good father and intelligent person. His devotion to to the land is clear and he is a more than wonderful painter of the land of the UK.
I admit I am an Anglophile and devotee of PBS UK programming.
The descendent of Scots and British on my father's side with relatives still in Glasgow. Our tribe comes from the Isle of Skye.
I had two Corgi which I miss terribly.
My dream is to someday go to Balmoral and hike the hills.
And to see the Isle of Skye.
Charles' plan with the U of Cambridge is a good one. Hope it makes some positive impact. 
Glad you're here! I'm currently kinda stuck on "The King's Speech." LOVE that movie, although "The Queen" was wonderful as well. I have been a fan of all that for a long time. A sucker for old fashioned, Old World pageantry, I suppose. Poor Prince Charles got a bad rap during the 80s and 90s through the whole marriage thing with Diana. He was always classy about it and kept a low profile, and just sucked it up and took it while she was out boo-hoo'ing in public all over the place. 
And everybody took her side. I felt so bad for Charles. After all - it does take TWO to tango. And he was the one who really had to be the straight-laced figure, mindful of all the decorum and royal family crap. He was heir-apparent, so he wasn't the one who could have any fun or kick up his heels or get rowdy the way his younger brother Randy Andy could. He had to behave. MUCH more was expected of him, and he had to be the serious one.
Poor schmuck couldn't help it. Cursed by the lavish blessings and privilege of his birth. He was still stuck upholding all that tradition and obligation and the royal image that fell on him more than on anybody else because after his mother dies or retires, HE's IT. But as time went on, after Diana's death, I was happy to notice that people started to recognize that he'd assumed an even larger and more personal role in his sons' lives, and remained very present with them at all times. Eventually people began to see what a devoted father he was to Wills and Harry now that he was their sole surviving parent. They also slowly became aware that stuffy ol' Charles wasn't really such a bad bloke after all. That really made me happy.
And now he seems to be happy, too. He's with his first love. And nobody cares anymore! The people are fine with it now. His subjects eventually completed their mourning of Diana, and moved on from "all that," and kinda got over it. And THANK GOD they did! They got used to Camilla, who made a very careful and gradual step forward more publicly into his life, and soon enough, the people accepted her presence at his side. And Charles and Camilla finally got married. Like they probably should have done to begin with. They never stopped loving each other, even though she originally wasn't keen on life in the royal fishbowl. Besides, nobody much cares anymore. They're all 100% absorbed in the new "shiny objects" - Will and Kate, and their little boy and their brand new baby girl, and whoever it is Prince Harry might be misbehaving with, this week. Everything's kinda mellow now and settled back down. Which is how it should be.
such unsustainable unregulated laissez faire trade agreements.
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