91Èȱ¬

King Charles III has given an important speech at the United Nations climate change conference, which is more commonly known as COP28.

The annual summit takes place from 30 November until 12 December this year and is being held at the Expo city in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

World leaders are coming together to work on solutions to tackle climate change which has led to significant increases in temperatures around the world, limit emissions and protect the environment.

King Charles was the only head of state invited to give a speech to the 167 world leaders from the podium at COP28.

He also spoke at COP21 in Paris in 2015, which was the first time all the nations of the world agreed they all needed to tackle climate change.

In his speech on Friday, King Charles told world leaders the dangers of climate change were no longer a distant risk, and urged them to take more action.

He said the world was "dreadfully far off track" on addressing climate change and called for world leaders to make the COP28 climate an opportunity for change.

"I pray with all my heart that COP28 will be another critical turning point towards genuine transformational action," he said.

"We are seeing alarming tipping points being reached."

King Charles set out some key questions for businesses, industries and countries to consider to help tackle the climate crisis.

He also praised the ideas, knowledge and energy of young people, artists, engineers, communicators and indigenous communities.

He finished his speech by adding: "The Earth does not belong to us. We belong to the Earth".

On day one of COP28 an important decision was made in favour of poorer countries that are more vulnerable to natural disasters caused by climate change.

World leaders agreed to launch a long-awaited fund to pay for the loss and damage from climate-driven storms and drought.

It's a big deal as agreements like this are normally agreed at the last minute, following days of negotiations during COP.

The EU, UK, US and a number of other countries immediately announced contributions, which in total are about $400m (£317m) for poor countries that have been massively affected by the impacts of climate change.

It's hoped the deal will provide the drive for a wider agreement on climate action during the summit.

While funding has been provided to help countries adapt to rising temperatures caused by climate change, and to help with their efforts to reduce their emissions, no money has been given to help with destruction caused by storms and droughts.

It's something poorer nations have been calling for, for a long time because they are impacted the most by climate change, but have historically caused little to none of the greenhouse gas emissions that warm Earth's atmosphere.

The idea of providing money for losses like this was first introduced in the 1990s. However, wealthier countries have fought against this for a long time.

Last year at COP27, which was held in Egypt, countries finally agreed to set up a fund.

Over the past 12 months countries had argued about the rules, where the fund should be located and who should pay into it.

An agreement was reached a few weeks before this gathering in Dubai, although this wasn't set in stone.

A deal like this would normally have to be accepted by all countries and negotiators would have to go through the text in great detail. This can often lead to major arguments at the end of a COP.

The COP28 president Sultan al-Jaber praised the deal.

"We have delivered history today," Mr Jaber told delegates as the motion was passed without a fight.

The UK has promised £60m to the fund, which campaigners have said was a small step in the right direction.

"It is encouraging to see that the UK Government is committed to making the Loss and Damage Fund a reality, but this pledge is simply not enough and crucially, it's not new money," said Chiara Liguori, who is Oxfam's Senior Climate Justice Policy Advisor.

Others have suggested the deal was a tactical move by the UAE, which has been criticised in the run up to COP28.

The 91Èȱ¬ reported earlier this week that leaked documents revealed plans by the UAE to discuss fossil fuel deals with 15 nations. COP28 president Sultan al-Jaber, who is also the leader of the UAE's giant state oil company, Adnoc, denied these claims and said they were "false, not true".