Prince William arrived in South Africa today determined to put the strains of the last year behind him and focus on his fight against climate change.
The future king, whose father King Charles and wife the Princess of Wales have both faced cancer battles this year, was always determined to attend his Earthshot Prize if their health allowed.
And he has built in a four-day programme of engagements around Wednesday’s high-profile global environmental awards in Cape Town to make the most of his time in the city.
William will meet a wide range of communities to explore issues important to them, and will learn more about work in the region to protect local biodiversity.
Before his arrival, William said: ‘Africa has always held a special place in my heart – as somewhere I found comfort as a teenager, where I proposed to my wife and most recently as the founding inspiration behind the Earthshot Prize.’
Prince William (centre) arrives at Cape Town Airport today for his four-day visit to South Africa
Prince William gets into a car at Cape Town Airport today as his visit to South Africa begins
The 42-year-old prince was pictured at Cape Town Airport today after taking a commercial flight from London.
He will start his trip with a visit to the Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme on a rooftop location.
William is joining 120 young environmentalists aged 18 to 35 from across Africa and South East Asia who want to drive change in climate action and sustainability.
Tomorrow he is set to make a landmark speech on nature, the environment and his support for wildlife rangers at the 2024 United for Wildlife Global Showcase.
He will also meet with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa this week, as well as take to the water with a local rescue organisation and meet park rangers and fishermen.
But the focus of his visit is Wednesday’s Earthshot Prize, which will be held in a reusable eco ‘super dome’ in the city and feature a ‘green carpet’.
It will be hosted by American actor and singer Billy Porter and South African television presenter Bonang Matheb.
Model and television host Heidi Klum and supermodel Winnie Harlow will be among the guest award presenters.
The awards will go out live across Africa and available to view in the UK on BBC iPlayer.
Five winners are chosen from five ‘Earthshots’: Protect and Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build a Waste-Free World and Fix Our Climate.
This year’s entrants range from a company which has developed sustainable refrigeration to another that removes harmful CO2 from the Ocean, and one that uses palm oil waste to make a sustainable leather alternative.
Each winner receives £1million in prize money to help develop and scale-up their idea and as well access to a global network of mentors.
‘Unlike most prizes, we don’t give awards to people for what they have already achieved. We award for the future potential of their solutions,’ said Earthshot chief executive Hannah Jones.
William with Hannah Waddingham at the Earthshot Awards in Singapore in November 2023
William and Kate at 2022 Earthshot Awards in Boston, Massachusetts, in December that year
Ms Jones also said Earthshot Week is ‘dedicated to celebrating environmental innovation, speeding solutions to scale, and inspiring young people to put their time and talent to fixing the planet one solution at a time’ and ‘represents over a year and half of working in the continent with our partners and stakeholders’.
The concept was devised by William and his team after the Prince expressed his frustration at the level of ‘pessimism and despair’ around the environment and climate crisis.
He decided to highlight and expand positive and innovative solutions to the problem with Earthshot, billed as ‘the most ambitious environmental prize in history’.
This year’s event is said to ‘go above and beyond’ anything he has done before.
Africa is a particularly emotive location for William, who found ‘healing’ on the continent following the death of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales. He also proposed to his wife in Kenya.
But Africa is also the continent that, while contributing least to global warming and having the lowest global emissions, is more adversely affected by the impact of climate change than any other.
