Prince William and Robert Irwin stunned royal watchers by arriving in London aboard a green double-decker bus to promote the Earthshot Prize.
The duo travelled to London’s Guildhall on an electric bus, where the royal met with innovators, investors and leaders supporting the environmental initiative, ahead of the Earthshot Prize Impact Assembly.
The event, which took place during London Climate Action Week, also celebrated some of the current finalists and past winners, with Irwin as one of the ambassadors for the initiative.
The royal has teamed up with Irwin a number of times to promote the Earthshot Prize and they have formed a strong bond.
Founded in 2020 by the Royal Foundation, the charity run by the Prince and Princess of Wales, the initiative aims to find “the most inspiring solutions to the world’s greatest challenges” that is protecting the environment.
Every year, five winners are given a grant of $1.9 million to achieve one of the goals: protect and restore nature, clean our air, revive our oceans, build a waste-free world and fix our climate.
“When we launched the Earthshot prize in 2020, we believed we could show the world evidence of progress − progress towards what felt like immense climate and nature goals,” Prince William told those attending at the event last night.
“Today, we have more than belief − we now have proof. Solutions are working, capital is moving, policy is shifting, partnerships are forming.”
“One day, people will look back at this decade and ask: when the evidence was clear, what did we do with it?” he said in one part of his speech.
“The challenge can still feel immense, but the proof is now in front of us. And history will ask what we did with it.”
Prior to this, the Prince of Wales attended a business forum for the United for Wildlife charity, where he told environmentalist Al Gore how important the Earthshot Prize was at keeping his “environmental anxiety at bay, because I can actually see some of the things we are doing are bringing change”.
“There are actually tangible benefits and it helps me sleep at night.”
The next Earthshot Prize will be held in Mumbai, India, in November.
The royal has been open about his desire to leave the planet in a better place for his three children and how he feels a “collective responsibility” to take care of the planet for the future of “our children”.
“I really want to make sure that, in 20 years, George doesn’t turn around and say, are you ahead of your time? Because if he does, we’re too late,” he said in a 2020 interview.
“I feel it is my duty, and our collective responsibility, to leave our planet in a stronger position for our children.”
Image: Instagram
