Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Share a Smile with Prince Charles While Discussing Climate Change

Jeff Bezos and partner Lauren Sánchez met with Prince Charles in Scotland ahead of COP26, a United Nations climate summit

Prince Charles, Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sánchez. Photo: Jeff Bezos/Instagram

Jeff Bezos and partner Lauren Sánchez met with Prince Charles to discuss combating climate change.

The Amazon billionaire, 57, and the Emmy Award-winning journalist, 51, arrived in Scotland over the weekend ahead of the start COP26, a global U.N. climate summit.

"The Prince of Wales has been involved in fighting climate change and protecting our beautiful world for five decades — far longer than most," Bezos wrote alongside a shot of the trio together in Scotland.

"We had a chance to discuss these important issues on the eve of #COP26 — looking for solutions to heal our world, and how the @BezosEarthFund can help," Bezos added.

Sánchez went on to share several photos on her own account from the meeting, which took place at Dumfries House, a part of The Princes' Foundation, the educational charity Charles established in 1986.

"Discussing climate change with the Prince of Wales," Sánchez wrote alongside the photos, which included some smiling shots with the royal.

Sánchez also reflected on the couple's commitment to "bringing action against climate change."

"I snapped this photo during a brief walk," she wrote alongside a photograph of the entrepreneur enjoying nature in Glasgow, noting that the excursion was "a reminder of how the natural world is so stunning and beautiful, and that we must do our part to protect it."

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez. Lauren Sanchez/Instagram

Ahead of the start of the climate summit, Charles, 72, called the world meeting a "last chance saloon."

"We must now translate fine words into still finer actions," he said in speech."It is surely time to set aside our differences and grasp this unique opportunity to launch a substantial green recovery by putting the global economy on a confident, sustainable trajectory and, thus, save our planet."

"This is why I am so grateful to have this chance to talk to you here today and to shine a light not just on how far we've come, but also on how far we still need to go," he continued.

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Although Bezos has pledged billions towards conservation projects in recent years, he has also faced criticism for his focus on space tourism — including from a senior member of the royal family.

Last month, one day after William Shatner became the oldest person to leave Earth thanks to Bezos' Blue Origin, Charles' son Prince William said he believed that all the money and energy being channeled into the space race would be better used to support climate activism.

"We need some of the world's greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live," William, 39, said during an interview on BBC's Newscast podcast.

"We have 10 years of critical time where we have to make an inroad and find new solutions and inspire people who can fix these solutions because past 2030, things get rapidly worse very quickly," he added.

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However, Shatner went on to call William's criticism "inane," telling PEOPLE that future technologies developed in space could help provide humans with energy on Earth, without worsening the climate crisis.

"This is what Bezos wants to do," Shatner said of Bezos' goal for his aerospace company. "You can do two things at once."

"Of course you have to clean up the plastic in the ocean — it doesn't mean you can't work on getting industry off of the ground," he added.

Jeff Bezos. Phillip Faraone/Getty Images

In September, the former Amazon CEO announced his plan to give away $1 billion "to create, expand, manage, and monitor protected and conserved areas" through the year 2030 as part of his $10 billion initiative to tackle the climate crisis.

"Nature is our life support system and it's fragile," Bezos said at the time. "I was reminded of this just this July when I went into space with Blue Origin. I'd heard that seeing the Earth from space changes one's point of view of the world. But I was not prepared for just how much that would be true."

"I hope this commitment inspires others to make their own pledges to protect and conserve nature and help in the fight against climate change," Bezos continued. "A job this big needs many allies."

Bezos' commitments to climate change came amid Amazon's annual sustainability report. The company revealed their carbon emissions increased 19 percent while their carbon intensity dropped 16 percent in 2020.

"This year-over-year carbon intensity comparison reflects our early progress to decarbonize our operations as we also continue to grow as a company," Amazon said. "Nearly half of our carbon intensity improvement is a result of our investments in renewable energy and operational efficiency enhancements."