RIO DE JANEIRO - THE current global fiancial crisis is 'nothing' compared to the impact of climate change, Britain's Prince Charles warned Thursday as he called for urgent environmental protection measures.

'We are, I fear, at a defining moment in the world's history,' he told a meeting of Brazilian business leaders and officials in Rio de Janeiro half-way through a Latin America tour.

'The global recession is far worse than any seen for generations,' he said, adding that growing demand for energy and food created the potential for 'political uncertainty in every continent.' But more menacing, he said, was that 'the threat of catastrophic climate change calls into question humanity's continued survival on the planet.'

He stressed: 'Any difficulties which the world faces today will be as nothing compared to the full effects which global warming will have on the world-wide economy.' The speech was billed as a key presentation in the prince's commitment to environmental conservation.

Prince Charles, 60, and Camilla, 61, were on a 10-day, three-nation tour taking in Chile, Brazil and Ecuador's Galapagos Islands - the research inspiration for Charles Darwin's theory of evolution - meant to draw attention to the challenges posed by climate change.

The prince, heir to Britain's throne, praised Brazil for the measures it has implemented to protect the Amazon, and described them as part of a new approach that dovetailed into the search for solutions to the world's economic and financial crisis.

That model relied on governments bringing in private investors through carbon credits and other schemes to promote eco-protection - to 'leverage' private capital for the cause of conservation.

The prince outlined his ideas in a discussion with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday, and on Monday with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

After his speech, the prince left to visit a social program set up by a British-run group in one of Rio's notorious slums that seeks to channel street violence into body combat sports. -- AFP