Queen Elizabeth II, encouraged world leaders on Monday to set aside their political differences and show statesmanship for the sake of the planet. The queen is absent from the climate summit due to health concerns, but made sure she did not remain silent.
The video message, sent to the COP26 gathering in Glasgow, showed the queen wearing green and a butterfly brooch. In the video, Queen Elizabeth explained that nations need to overcome issues and adversity throughout history by cooperating.
“It has sometimes been observed that what leaders do for their people today is government and politics,” she said. “But what they do for the people of tomorrow – that is statesmanship.”
The queen had canceled her trip to Scotland due to doctors advising her on what was described as fatigue.
She also said that the environment had been a subject “close to the heart” of her late husband, Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who passed away in April. Urging for world leaders to find common ground, Queen Elizabeth said that “the time for words has now moved to the time for action.”
“Of course, the benefits of such actions will not be there to enjoy for all of us here today,” she continued. “None of us will live forever. But we are doing this not for ourselves, but for our children and our children’s children, and those who will follow in their footsteps.”
The queen mentioned that the environmental efforts of her late husband lived on through her eldest grandson, Prince William, and eldest son, Prince Charles, who, called for “a military-style campaign” to combat climate change when addressing world leaders on Monday at the summit.
“The future of humanity and nature herself is at stake,” said Prince Charles.
“It is also impossible not to hear the despairing voices of young people who see you, ladies and gentlemen, as the stewards of the planet holding the viability of their future in your hands,” he told the world leaders together in Rome. He reminded them that they all had an “overwhelming responsibility to generations yet unborn.”
