British Deputy High Commission celebrated coronation of King Charles III with a carbon neutral reception

King Charles III and his wife Camilla were crowned King and Queen in a grand ceremony at  Westminster Abbey in central London on Saturday.

"King Charles is a great supporter of nature and environment conservation and strongly believes in climate action. So one of the key themes for the celebration reception in Kolkata was sustainability," said the British Deputy High Commission here in a release.

The event was carbon neutral and financed verified carbon removal and avoidance projects in Eastern India that are producing carbon credits.

A QR code was generated and guests voted for their preferred carbon reducing project. These projects are helping to offset the emissions from the event, which even included travel-related emissions of guests.

British Deputy High Commission Kolkata also tied up with a waste recycling partner to promote creatively designed waste products put together by women of 24 Self Help Groups from West Bengal. "We also partnered with electric bike and electric taxi companies to promote clean mobility. The staff of British Deputy High Commission used Snap-E Cabs to commute to the venue of the reception," it said. 

Peter Cook, Acting British Deputy High Commissioner to Kolkata, said: “One of the highlights of the reception was an exclusive platter of British food which included the Coronation Quiche, Coronation Chicken, Welsh lamb Cawl, Fish and Chips, Apple Cinnamon Pie et al. I was delighted to cut a specially designed Coronation Cake for the guests.”

The reception was attended by a wide range of dignitaries from the Government of West Bengal, representatives from business leaders, climate figures, UK alumni, differently-abled sportspersons and other personalities from academics, cinema and tourism.