The Prince of Wales appears to have made a dig at US president Donald Trump while speaking about the need to protect the world's coral reefs from climate change.

Trump once declared global warming as a 'hoax' and withdrew the United States from the Paris climate change agreement almost as soon as he entered office.

Speaking at an event held this morning in London, Prince Charles talked about the urgent and pressing need to unite in order to protect the world's coral reefs against the combined threats of climate change, pollution, plastic and over fishing.

The heir to the throne was joined at the event by Prince Harry, who greeted his father with a kiss on the cheek.

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The Prince of Wales appears to have made a dig at US president Donald Trump while speaking about the need to protect the world's coral reefs from climate change. He was joined at an event today by son Harry who greeted him with a kiss on the cheek (pictured)

Prince Charles and his son attended a coral reef health and resilience meeting in London today

Speaking at an event held this morning in London, Prince Charles spoke about the urgent need to protect the world's coral reefs against climate change, pollution, plastic and over fishing

He said: 'This event is vitally important for while the world, apart from one or two outposts here and there, has begun to focus at last on the profound perils of climate change, little attention has been given to the increasingly devastating effect of climate change on the ocean and its bio-diversity.

'The stakes are high and time is extremely short. There can be no doubt that we are a critical tipping point.

'It is for me literally incredible and deeply irresponsible that people seem to have regarded theses losses as somehow just being the price of progress, rather than the arbiter of our vulnerability and the harbinger of our future.'

Trump has appointed forceful advocates for increased oil, gas and coal production to lead key federal agencies overseeing environmental enforcement, energy production and public lands.

As recently as December the US president has declared his doubts on the existence of global warming.

Speaking at an event held this morning in London , Prince Charles talked about the urgent and pressing need to unite in order to protect the world's coral reefs against the combined threats of climate change, pollution, plastic and over fishing

Trump once declared global warming as a 'hoax' and withdrew the United States from the Paris climate change agreement almost as soon as he entered office

On December 28 2017 Trump tweeted: 'In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year's Eve on record.Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against.'

The Trump administration is also targeting federal funding for studying and tracking climate change while boosting the continued burning of planet-warming fossil fuels.

The White House's 2019 spending plan seeks to reduce or eliminate climate science programs across an array of federal agencies, from gutting efforts to track greenhouse gas emissions and research to eliminating funding for NASA satellites that study the impacts of climate change.

Though President Donald Trump's budget unveiled earlier this week is highly unlikely to be adopted by Congress, it is a direct indicator of just how little weight his administration is giving to the increasingly dire warnings from climate scientists about longer droughts, stronger storms and rising seas.

Prince Harry is greeted by his father Prince Charles upon their arrival at a meeting in London

The Prince of Wales appears to have made a dig at the expense of US president Donald Trump while speaking about the need to protect the world's coral reefs from climate change

Speaking today, Prince Charles also said: 'As you all know the reefs are by a long way the most diverse of marine eco systems -they provide critical balance and equilibrium to the earth.

'In addition to being on the frontline of the intensifying impact of global warming, coral reefs are challenged by unprecedented rates of coastal development and pressures from over-fishing, destructive fishing and land based pollution.

A Kensington Palace spokeswoman said this afternoon: 'Prince Harry has an interest in this issue and was invited by the Prince of Wales to attend.'

Yesterday it was reported that senior Commonwealth officials are due to meet in London for secret talks to consider whether Prince Charles should take over when the Queen dies.

The organisation, which is not hereditary, has set up a 'high level group' of seven leading figures to discuss 'wider governance considerations' - code for the succession, according to insiders.

The group is expected to report to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) on its findings in London in April, which is expected to be the last the Queen will attend.

The Queen, who turns 92 in April, was proclaimed Head of the Commonwealth at her coronation when she was head of state in seven of its eight members, and wants Prince Charles to succeed her.

Commonwealth officials are holding secret talks about who should take over as head of the organisation when the Queen dies. Her Majesty is seen inspecting a guard of honour at Malta International Airport in November 2015

But it is not a hereditary position that will pass automatically to the Prince of Wales, who will be head of state in only 15 of the 53 member nations that now make up the Commonwealth.

A senior source told the BBC, which saw the agenda of the high level meeting: 'I imagine the question of the succession, however distasteful it may naturally be, will come up.'

The agenda is reported to say: 'Discussions will take into consideration the issues raised in the first session and also the wider governance considerations of the Commonwealth.'

Any decision about the future would have to be made by the Commonwealth heads of government at the time of the Queen's death, but there is no formal process for choosing her successor.