King Charles to miss COP29 in Baku
King Charles will not attend the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku next month as the government has reportedly not elected him to represent Britain while he continues his cancer recovery, Sky News reported.
The King is a committed climate change activist and has been widely praised by leaders for advocating for better conversation on the topic.
Organisers of COP29 anticipated England’s monarch, who attended the event last year, would continue his long history of heralding environmental activism at the summit.
Sources have now revealed British government officials did not ask Charles to represent the United Kingdom at the November climate change event in Azerbaijan’s capital.
"The King will not be going to COP,” they told the UK’s Mirror on Tuesday.
It is understood Britain’s ministerial office called for the King to exercise "an abundance of caution" before travelling to Australia next week for a royal tour with Queen Camilla amid his cancer treatment.
“He has not been asked by the government to attend the event, and he is also mindful of his own commitments following the upcoming autumn tour,” the source said.
COP29 will begin in Baku on November 11, about two weeks after Charles and Camilla return to the UK after a whirlwind tour of Australia and Samoa from October 18 to 26.
Buckingham Palace confirmed Charles will continue championing environmentalism Down Under, while reportedly pausing his treatment for an undisclosed type of cancer.