6 May 2023 - His Majesty has inspired and supported many of CISL's initiatives that we spotlight on the occasion of his Coronation.
Over 30 years ago His Majesty King Charles III [who in his role as Prince of Wales was Royal Founding Patron of CISL] recognised that there was no effective forum for senior business leaders to come together to explore the role that businesses can play in positively shaping a more sustainable world.
Ahead of his time, His Majesty commissioned the University of Cambridge to create a forum to meet this need, and the first sustainability education programme of its kind was established.
Following strong interest from major companies, The Prince of Wales’s Business & Sustainability Programme expanded its seminars globally and still runs annually in Cambridge, South Africa, Australia and Singapore. It has set a global benchmark for sustainability leadership education, amassing a network of over 3,500 alumni.
In 2005 His Majesty, as Prince of Wales, went onto support a new business group championing action on climate change: the Corporate Leaders Groups. The groups now sit at the core of a growing community of business action in the UK, Europe and around the world.
Recognising the critical role of financial institutions in building a sustainable economy, His Majesty lent similar support for the establishment of CISL leadership groups across insurance, banking and investment, now comprised of over 50 global financial institutions.
At the launch of the Investment Leaders Group, 2016
His Majesty has long understood the impact of bringing together academia and the corporate sector to drive transformative change, and in 2018 supported the Prince of Wales Global Sustainability Fellowship Programme to foster new transdisciplinary thinking on sustainability.
The launch of Prince of Wales Global Sustainability Fellowship Programme, 2018
In 2020 His Majesty challenged a group of aviation industry players to halve the time to achieve climate neutral aviation and asked the University of Cambridge to help unlock this change. The University of Cambridge’s Whittle Laboratory and the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership responded by creating the Aviation Impact Accelerator (AIA), a collaborative project working to accelerate the transition towards sustainable flight. The AIA is working to develop evidence-based tools, simulations and visualisations that can map pathways to climate-neutral aviation.
His Majesty inspects the Aviation Impact Accelerator interactive tool at University of Cambridge’s Whittle Laboratory, 2022
In 2022 His Majesty inaugurated the Entopia Building, a sustainably retrofitted headquarters for CISL and its Canopy sustainability hub for entrepreneurs and innovators.
His Majesty opened CISL's new HQ, the Entopia Building, in 2022, and is pictured here with Clare Shine, CISL's Director and CEO
The support of HM King Charles III, in his role as Prince of Wales and as Royal Founding Patron of CISL, has catalysed CISL and its global network of over 30,000 leaders and pioneers to lead transformative change for a sustainable future.