Aging leaders Biden, King Charles III zero in on climate change in meeting

Windsor: President Joe Biden and King Charles III, aging leaders who’ve waited decades to reach the pinnacle of their careers, used their first meeting in their respective roles Monday to highlight the generational issue of climate change as they prod private companies to do more to bolster clean energy in developing countries.

The meticulously choreographed gathering at Windsor Castle injected substance into the type of encounter between president and monarch that historically has been more about the pomp and circumstance. After the arrival formalities, Biden and Charles participated in a climate-focused roundtable with officials from the financial and philanthropic sectors. John Kerry, the U.S. envoy on climate, attended.

The 74-year-old Charles, who was crowned in May, has already made the environment a significant part of his policy legacy and has long fought to protect wildlife and battle climate change. Biden, for his part, identified climate change as one of the four crises he was determined to confront as president.

He signed a sweeping legislative package last year that includes nearly 375 billion in climate-related incentives. Biden, 80, last had formal talks with Charles, then prince, at the COP26 U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, in November 2021.

The U.S. president also attended the state funeral of Charles’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in September as well as a reception for heads of state at Buckingham Palace the night before the service.