A vital battle in the war against climate change will be lost unless we take urgent action to halt the rapid destruction of the world's rainforests, Prince Charles has told the Today Programme.

Speaking to Today presenter James Naughtie, the Prince of Wales claimed that unless something was done in the next 18 months there was "a severe danger of losing a major part of the battle against climate change".

The prince urged the international community to donate £30bn a year to halt deforestation.

"What we have got to do is ensure that those forests are more valuable alive than dead," he said. 

The rainforests are not only a valuable carbon capture system but also provide a vital climate regulator, the prince said.

Without them we will face "far more drought and starvation on a grand scale".

He urged that systems of regulation, sustainable development and aid should be put in place to provide another option for the poor farmers who destroy the forests to provide their livelihood.

And he suggested we would be “crazy” not to listen to evidence of climate change from the scientific community and act before it is too late.

The BBC’s environment analyst Roger Harrabin said Prince Charles’s observation that saving the forests is the cheapest and most effective way to cut emissions is widely acknowledged.

At the recent Bali climate conference, developing countries asked for compensation from rich nations if they agreed to avoid future deforestation.

Talks are continuing. But there are issues over sovereignty – and genuine difficulties over who pays, who collects, and how big the cheque is.


Listen to the full interview