In today’s issue:
— King Charles was told not to attend COP27 in Egypt. So he brought it to Buckingham Palace.
— Lula’s victory in Brazil may have just saved the planet; Brazil stocks leap
— Blackstone’s deal to buy Emerson climate tech unit the largest Wall Street buyout in months
— Boris Johnson may be down but he’s not out. Look for him in Sharm El-Sheikh next week.
— ‘Battery Belt’ takes shape in U.S. midwest as Biden team hammers home climate plan
Only kings and queens can get away with this. Britain’s King Charles, banned from attending next week’s global climate summit in Egypt because of his new regal duties, instead will bring COP27 to Buckingham Palace, in one stroke creating the hottest ticket on the planet this week for traveling delegates and world leaders.
While we’re sure Sharm El-Sheikh has its beachy charms (for a police state, that is), the opportunity for the business and political elite to have a drink with the new king at his palace while on the way to the summit will be too hard to resist. And in many ways could upstage Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s efforts to promote Egypt as a climate pioneer.
COP27 was struggling anyway. No country has lived up to its promises since last year’s summit in Glasgow. Nobody’s interested in ponying up the $100 billion they promised to help poor countries deal with global warming. Even Greta Thunberg isn’t going, citing al-Sisi’s, um, lack of interest in any sort of protests.
But now 200 lucky delegates will be able to hobnob with the new Climate King while on their way, and by extension come under new pressure to make progress next week. Brazil’s election victory by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, with his pledge to halt deforestation of the Amazon Basin, has given the climate movement a much-needed boost ahead of a summit no one was looking forward to.
Now King Charles, trapped in his castle by decades of ridiculous royal tradition, has found a unique way to place his stamp on it, and maybe saved Britain’s climate chops in the process.
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