DAVOS, Switzerland — Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, privately met at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday to discuss environmental issues, CNBC has learned.
The closed door gathering between the two world leaders came after Gore led a panel on Tuesday at the annual confab titled "Safeguarding Our Planet," which focused on climate change. The gathering is one of many that have taken place at a conference that's known to bring together leaders in politics and business to discuss political, social and environmental matters.
When asked about what was discussed, Prince William's communications secretary Jason Knauf said in a brief interview that it was "about the environment, the themes the vice president was talking about on stage last night." The spokesman also noted that Gore is close friends with Charles, Prince of Wales.
Gore repeatedly declined an interview with CNBC.
The former vice president, who's been involved with the fight against global climate change since at least the early 2000's, told the Davos audience in the buildup to his panel yesterday that scientific research showing environmental degradation proves changes need to be made.
"All of these findings add up to a very simple message: We have to change. We are putting 110 million tons of man-made, heat-trapping, global-warming pollution, into the very thin shell of atmosphere surrounding our planet, as if its an open sewer," Gore said at the time.
The meeting with Prince William comes at a time when President Donald Trump regularly expresses skepticism toward, and at times mocks, the science behind the theory of climate change.
"Large parts of the Country are suffering from tremendous amounts of snow and near record setting cold. Amazing how big this system is," the president said in a tweet on Sunday. "Wouldn't be bad to have a little of that good old fashioned Global Warming right now!"
In November, Trump refuted a report by numerous federal agencies showing Americans will likely see their health and finances impacted by climate change.
"I don't believe it," Trump told reporters when he was asked about the research.
