King Charles will be notably absent from next month’s COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan as he adopts a measured approach in managing his health amid cancer treatment.

While the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference coordinators had high hopes that the fervent eco-warrior would grace the event in Baku, where global leaders are set to converge, Charles is gearing up for an Australian tour with Queen Camilla. His environmental dedication, particularly at previous summits, has come under widespread acclaim.

The monarch made an impassioned plea during COP28’s inaugural speech last December in Dubai, cautioning that the world was alarmingly behind on achieving key aims of the 2015 Paris Agreement and urged for substantial action on climate change.

However, Royal insiders have revealed the UK government decided against requesting King Charles’ presence at the conference. Downing Street reportedly opted for “an abundance of caution” in light of his forthcoming commitments after the autumn tour, reports the Mirror

Conceived at Rio de Janeiro’s Earth Summit in June 1992, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change aims to thwart perilous anthropogenic climate impacts. There are presently 198 nations signed on to the accord.

An insider reported: “The King will not be going to COP. He has not been asked by the government to attend the event and he is also mindful of his own commitments following the upcoming autumn tour.”

Charles had previously extended a warm welcome to the president-designate of COP29, Mukhtar Babayev, who is also the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Azerbaijan, at his Clarence House residence in London back in July. The monarch resumed his duties in April and has been consistent with his weekly cancer treatment since his diagnosis in February.

In between his weekly treatments in London, Charles has primarily been spending time in Scotland, “immersing himself in nature to aid his recovery”, as per those close to the King. It was revealed last week that doctors have given Charles, 75, the green light to pause his treatment for the duration of the autumn tour.

The King and Queen are set to arrive in Sydney on October 17 and will then proceed to Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm), where they will meet a plethora of world leaders on the island nation, as part of their nine-day tour. Given that COP29 is scheduled from November 11-22, palace aides and government officials deemed it too demanding for the King to attend.

Upon his return from Samoa, the monarch must gear up for the Remembrance Sunday services on November 10 at the Cenotaph, in addition to resuming his regular duties. Charles is also due to turn 76 on November 14, although palace insiders stated there were no public celebrations planned and the King would spend the day working and then commemorate the day privately at home.

An insider revealed: “The King would have relished the chance to attend the summit, but the autumn period is shaping up to be incredibly busy already. Given the tour to Australia and Samoa, as well as the amount of travel in between, a decision was taken for His Majesty not to attend the conference this year.”

In what marks his second absence from the summit in three years, Charles will stay awaya choice initially influenced by last year’s guidance from then-PM Liz Truss. Labelled as Britain’s briefest PM due to her fleeting 45-day term, Truss allegedly had reservations about the monarch going to the conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in 2022.

A statement from Buckingham Palace later confirmed: “With mutual friendship and respect there was agreement that the king would not attend.”

Addressing the UN climate gathering in November 2021 in Glasgow via video link, the Queen, with the full support of Boris JohnsonTruss’s predecessor and Tory leader at the timeunderscored her environmental commitments. This year, Buckingham Palace has officially stated that the King will be missing COP.