Britain's Prince Charles sees time running out to save planet

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Time is running out to save the world from the ravages of climate change and prevent economic meltdown and a flood of environmental refugees, Britain's Prince Charles has warned on a visit to Chile.

The Prince of Wales, and his wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, are in Chile at the start of a Latin American tour to promote energy efficiency and measures to combat climate change.

"If we do nothing, the consequences for every person on this earth will be severe and unprecedented, with vast numbers of environmental refugees, social instability and decimated economies -- far worse than anything which we are seeing today," he told a gala dinner hosted by Chilean President Michelle Bachelet late on Monday.

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Charles argues sustainable development projects could help stimulate the global economy as it battles crisis. "How can we begin to address poverty if we haven't first ensured our planet is actually inhabitable?" he said.

Charles, heir to the British throne, has long advocated urgent measures to reduce carbon emissions and has also proposed issuing long-dated bonds to help fund sustainable development projects in countries where tropical rainforest is being wiped out.

He and his wife were set to visit the port city of Valparaiso on Tuesday and an organic vineyard later in the day, before flying on to Brazil on Wednesday and then later on to Ecuador's Galapagos Islands, which were central to 19th century British naturalist Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. (Reporting by Simon Gardner, Editing by Frances Kerry)

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