It didn’t take long before the press dubbed Charles “the green king.” Some of King Charles’ sustainability initiatives are well-known, like the many improvements made to the Royal Family’s properties. But the Green King’s effort goes much further than that.
King Charles’ Sustainable Markets Initiative
In 2020, the King Charles’ biggest sustainability initiative went live. The then-Prince of Wales launched the Sustainable Markets Initiative to create the “go-to global private sector organisation on sustainable transition.”
The initiative’s mandate, curiously named Terra Carta, lists the necessary actions to make Earth at least a little cleaner by 2030. The Carta asks for commitments on safeguarding biodiversity, net zero by 2050, cross-border agreements, and more. It also includes a definition of sustainability that protects human equality as well as the natural world.
The Terra Carta was recognized by 66 large companies, including the likes of Amazon and AstraZeneca. When looking at this list of companies, it’s important to remember that the commitment isn’t binding. They might have signed the document, but some of those companies aren’t taking the steps necessary to lower their impact.
Highgrove, the First of King Charles’ Sustainability Initiatives
In 1980, Charles, then only a prince, moved into the Highgrove residence with his wife, Camilla. Immediately, they began transforming the residence’s surroundings into one of the world’s most famous organic gardens.
The gardens run on solar energy and reuse the kitchen’s waste through composting. Even the residence’s heating system uses renewable energy, thanks to a geothermal heating pump.
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Of course, the content of the gardens themselves is sustainable. More than that, the garden hosts a field of endangered flora. Here, those rare plants can grow relatively wild compared to the extremely well-kept garden. It is a luxury, considering how the alternative storage for those plants is as seed in the Global Seed Vault.
Unsurprisingly, the garden also features an entirely organic farm. Home Farm, the project’s name, officially became fully organic in 1994. Back then, organic farming wasn’t as popular as it is now. One of the first achievements of the farm, then, was to make organic agriculture more popular.
The Coronation Food Project
The most recent of King Charles’ sustainability initiatives, the Coronation Food Project, will tackle food waste in the UK. According to the project’s website, the first objective is to “bridge the gap between food waste and food need.” But the Coronation Food Project is more than that.
The initiative is divided into “pillars.” Those include saving food, connecting food surplus to food scarcity, and founding more initiatives in the sector.
This isn’t the first time King Charles focused on food scarcity to heart. In 2022, when up to 14 million UK citizens faced food scarcity, he contributed to a fundraising to reinforce the UK’s food banks. The Coronation Food Project attempts to cover at least some of what needs to be done.
King Charles’ Food Education Programme
Partly related to the Coronation Food Project is the Food Education Programme. The initiative aims to spread awareness of everything related to food, with pupils participating first-hand in food production, from the farm to the kitchen.
The program lists some extraordinary hosts, from cooking personality Jamie Oliver to TV presenter Jimmy Doherty. Non-British readers might not recognize those names, but it’s an exceptional cast.
The project received the support of companies like Hellmann and British supermarket Sainsbury’s. Hellmann, in particular, contributed a study that promises to cut food waste by up to a third. Moreover, it claims we can reach this goal by changing our kitchen habits.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of Impakter.com — In the Featured Photo: His Majesty King Charles III hosts a reception at Buckingham Palace for Heads of State and overseas visitors, 18th September 2022. Featured Photo Credit: Fergus Burnett / Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.
