The Japan Times - King Charles III warns world 'going backwards' in climate fight

The British monarch, a lifelong environmentalist who has rallied global leaders and institutions to the cause, called for greater mitigation efforts "as fast as we can".

"It's rapidly going backwards," the king said of the current situation, in the feature-length film "Finding Harmony: A King's Vision".

"I've said that for the last 40 years but anyway, there we are," a visibly frustrated Charles noted, adding "I can only do what I can do, which is not very much".

"People don't seem to understand it's not just climate that's the problem it's also biodiversity loss," he continued.

"We're actually destroying our means of survival, all the time. To put that back together again is possible, but we should have been doing it long ago. We've got to do it as fast as we can now."

The king and his wife Queen Camilla were to attend a Windsor Castle screening of the documentary on Wednesday ahead of its worldwide release on Amazon Prime on February 6.

- 'Done my utmost' -

Media were given a preview of the film, which is narrated by British Hollywood star Kate Winslet and billed as revealing the king "as never before".

Filmed over seven months last year and across four continents, it charts Charles' environmentalism down the decades, alongside a history of global efforts to tackle climate change and ecological destruction.

Utilising 75 years of archive footage, the documentary spotlights his charity, the King's Foundation, and its work around sustainability at Dumfries House, Scotland, which has inspired similar projects worldwide.

The foundation made the film in collaboration with production companies Amazon MGM Studios and Passion Planet.

It focuses on Charles's environmental "harmony" philosophy and his view that "we are actually nature ourselves, we are a part of it, not apart from it".

As well as interviewing experts, campaigners, political leaders and the monarch, the filmmakers were given candid access to his Highgrove home in southwest England, among other places.

They captured the king feeding his chickens, collecting eggs and walking the grounds, as well as hosting a summit with indigenous leaders in July.

Among the more poignant moments, Charles laments the loss of wildlife at Highgrove, noting when he first moved in there nearly five decades ago he would hear cuckoos and see grasshoppers.

S.Yamada--JT