King calls for courage over tackling climate change in wake of Sunak’s slowdown

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. He called for a new Entente Cordiale designed to tackle the global climate emergency, and stressed the need to “stride forward with hope and courage”, with his 18-minute long speech – prompting a standing ovation. French President Emmanuel Macron later paid tribute to the King’s long-standing “conviction” and “preaching” on tackling climate change, as the pair visited a sustainability reception for business leaders and ministers at the Natural History Museum in Paris. He told of the “friendship and warm familiarity” between the two countries and the UK and France’s solidarity over the war in Ukraine, but urged the countries to work together on tackling climate change. He told senators: “Quite simply, the United Kingdom will always be one of France’s closest allies and best friends.” He also recalled how President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to his mother, the late Queen, during her Platinum Jubilee last year and described her as the golden thread binding the nations together.