The Duke of Cambridge spoke of his immense pride for the winners and finalists of his first annual Earthshot Prize during the second day of the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow. Joining with members of The Earthshot Global Alliance and members of The Earthshot Prize Council, Prince William gave a speech about the objective everyone in the room shared: “to repair our planet together.”
“If we are to achieve our goal to repair our planet in what is now less than a decade, it is our shared responsibility to continue thinking differently, acting boldly, and making the impossible, possible,” William said.
The event, held at the COP26 ‘Green Zone’ in the Glasgow Science Centre, was hosted by Michael R. Bloomberg, global adviser to The Earthshot Prize winners and founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies, one of the Founding Partners of The Earthshot Prize.
Praising the “incredible people all around the world working on ground-breaking solutions,” William expressed his joy at being able to gather in person as a group for the first time at the conference.
“To our Earthshot Prize finalists and winners – thank you for believing that we can face the vast challenges in front of us today, and for doing your utmost to overcome them,” he said. “I’m sure I speak on behalf of everyone here in saying that we will not just cheer you on, but we will actively support you to succeed. Your success is our collective global Earthshot, and we will do everything we can to help you go further than before.”
Prince William added that The Earthshot Prize has helped give people “much-needed optimism and hope that we can indeed repair our planet.”
The Earthshot Prize Global Alliance Summit allowed winners and finalists to meet experts in the industry to discuss actionable solutions to help save the environment. The Alliance, which is a network of philanthropists, NGOs and major companies and brands, helps support the environmental solutions developed by winners and finalists of The Earthshot Prize to put them into action.
A reception was held for the Prize’s winners on 1 November, presenting the first opportunity for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to meet many of them in person.
Members of the Royal Family will continue engagements at the COP26 conference this week, meeting with world leaders and activists to focus on solutions to halt climate change.
