How Prince William is using $100m - and Kylie Minogue - to sway world leaders

6 hours ago 3

London: Prince William is seeking to intensify action on climate change by leading a formidable coalition to push for change this week, backed by stars, supermodels and business chiefs.

The Prince of Wales will be joined by singers including Kylie Minogue and Shawn Mendes on Wednesday when his $100 million Earthshot Prize stages its annual awards in Brazil, demonstrating the soft power of the monarchy.

The heir to the throne will try to move the global debate on carbon emissions while being safely distant from the scandal over his uncle, former prince Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.

William takes part in a game of volleyball with players from the Levante Institute on a visit to Copacabana Beach during his trip to Brazil.

The Earthshot event in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday will promote policies that help the environment just as national leaders prepare to head to Brazil for next week’s United Nations summit on carbon targets, amid grim prospects for an ambitious deal.

US President Donald Trump will not send any senior officials to the talks, while the European Union is struggling to overcome disputes about the cuts it should make to greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

Amid those divisions, Prince William has assembled a broad group of high-profile supporters who are backing his Earthshot movement and, in doing so, lending their voices to the calls for action on climate.

His supporters range from actor Cate Blanchett to broadcaster David Attenborough, former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern and Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen.

By heading to the UN summit, known as COP30, in Belem, he is continuing the work of his father in advocating greater ambition on climate.

King Charles, as the Prince of Wales in 2021, urged leaders to go on a “war-like footing” to help the environment when he spoke at the UN gathering in Glasgow.

“With a growing global population creating ever-increasing demand on the planet’s finite resources, we have to reduce emissions urgently and take action to tackle the carbon already in the atmosphere, including from coal-fired power stations,” Charles told the summit.

This year, Prince William is wielding star power to try to nudge global leaders towards action.

“By hosting the prize in Brazil, we’re shining a light on the solutions emerging from this part of the world and drawing global attention to the urgency and opportunity of climate action,” he told Hello! magazine.

The remarks to the magazine highlight the way the royal family can use its “pull” in the mainstream media to ensure its message reaches millions of people – which is to say, voters. Hello! published the prince’s remarks on its cover as part of a special “green” issue this week.

“As a father, I think constantly about the world my children will inherit,” he told the magazine.

Prince William meets participants of the Generation Earthshot Program on day one of his visit to Brazil for the annual Earthshot Prize Awards.

“I want them to grow up surrounded by nature, opportunity and a sense of hope about the future. But I also know that unless we act boldly now, that future is at risk.”

The Earthshot Prize is a non-profit entity that runs annual awards, rather than a policy advocacy group, but it has donors with deep pockets and directors with real influence.

Prince William and Princess Catherine set it up five years ago as an offshoot of their Royal Foundation, which supports causes such as childhood development, mental health and conservation.

The £50 million ($100 million) in support for Earthshot came from more than 20 companies and foundations such as the Aga Khan Development Network, the Bezos Earth Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies, DP World, the Jack Ma Foundation, Mastercard, Standard Chartered Bank, the Temasek Trust and Uber.

William speaks with Cate Blanchett at the Bafta Film Awards last year.

The trustees are chaired by Christiana Figueres, previously the executive secretary at the UN agency that holds the annual climate summit. Ardern is a trustee, alongside global business chiefs and policy leaders.

Attenborough, Blanchett and Bundchen are on the prize council that decides the awards. Other members include Indra Nooyi, the former chief executive of PepsiCo, and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the director-general of the World Trade Organisation.

Behind it all is Jason Knauf, who worked in the royal household for almost five years before running the Royal Foundation for William and Catherine, and later becoming Earthshot chief executive.

Knauf was educated in New Zealand and began his career as an adviser to Helen Clark when she was prime minister of the country.

The 15 finalists for this year’s prize include projects designed to prevent deforestation, find new ways to store renewable energy in batteries and minimise electronic waste.

One finalist is from Australia: the Quay Quarter Tower in Sydney, otherwise known as the new AMP tower, which retained 65 per cent of the original tower and therefore avoided more than 12,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.