During his speech in Nassau, the King acknowledged his 50-year-long commitment to fighting climate change and highlighted the challenges faced by low-lying Caribbean islands, saying that “our world cries out for healing”.
He went on to call on young people at the rally to “take up the sacred task to play your part” as “in years to come, this will be surely be the measure of every person – how they answered the call to care for planet earth – the source of our life, our prosperity and our security”.
The King resumes engagements in the Bahamas on Wednesday, where he will hear how vulnerable the low lying islands of the Caribbean are to climate change.
He will also learn more about the Bahamian tradition of Junkanoo – a cultural festival and street parade.
Buckingham Palace said opportunities for the King to reflect on the legacy of the slave trade will be built into the schedule of his nine-day tour of three Caribbean countries with visits planned to memorials and other places of reflection and remembrance.
A spokesperson for the palace told the BBC that the King’s programme on the tour “will primarily focus on shining a light on the many modern partnerships and opportunities for the future”, specifically those which are “having a transformative effect on the region”.
For the King, the spokesperson added, the “tour is both a new journey but also the continuance of a lifelong one, in which he has sought to engage, understand and educate about the most shameful aspects of our past”.
Those themes will be reflected by the King through the nine-day visit, the palace said.
The visit has been planned alongside the governments of the Bahamas, Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda with an emphasis on honouring the past but also looking forward to the ambition and possibility for future generations.
The King will move to Guyana later this week where his engagements will focus on the environment and biodiversity.
He will then visit Antigua and Barbuda, where he will be joined by Queen Camilla, for the CHOGM and his keynote speech as leader of the Commonwealth.
The biennial summit will bring together leaders of 56 Commonwealth countries to address shared challenges and advance cooperation.
