As a member of the council of the Earthshot Prizes, Queen Rania gave a speech at the Earthshot Prizes Innovation Summit in New York City.
It was scheduled that Prince William, who founded the Earthshot Prizes in 2020, would travel to the Big Apple for the event, but royal mourning prevented him from doing so. However, he did manage to send a pre-recorded video message for the occasion.
The Jordanian Queen gave a speech in which she praised the Prince of Wales for his vision in initiating this project and paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II for her advocacy in favour of climate protection.
Her Majesty also said that urgent action is needed and that “no one can claim that climate change is somebody else’s problem, or shrug it off for future generations to address.”
She added: “We are all affected by a warming planet.” The consequences of climate change are on display all over the world right now, from Pakistan’s floods to Japan’s heavy typhoon, from the significant destruction of Puerto Rico by the passage of Hurricane Fiona to many parts of Europe experiencing unprecedented droughts that put in danger their food supply as well as their economic foundations.
Queen Rania ended on a hopeful note: “If we stick together, we can make fixing the climate the greatest project, and greatest achievement, of our lifetime. […] But let us be driven by hope, not fear, […] because hope is not passive. Hope is the ultimate source of renewable energy.”
The Earthshot Innovation Summit was organised by Bloomberg Philanthropy, which is among the founding members of the Global Alliance, the organisation that supports the prizes.
It took place in New York, just as the 77th UN General Assembly was also underway in the Big Apple, to underline the critical role that politics and global unity play in this fight; as Her Majesty said, “We must act as united nations.”
The speech can be viewed in its entirety here.
