The Duke of Cambridge has said he believes “huge strides” can be made in tackling the planet’s environmental problems as he hailed the “game changing nature” of his Earthshot Prize. Speaking during a podcast co-hosted by actress Cate Blanchett, William said he aimed to focus on scaling up the competition’s inaugural winners and wanted more solutions to repair the planet led by women and indigenous communities from the 2022 nominees.
The duke said his appreciation of the natural world was “piqued” by his father and grandfather’s “passion” for it, and described boyhood memories of climbing trees, digging ditches and being out in the “wild and the wet”. He also revealed the run-up to the first awards ceremony for his environmental Earthshot Prize was “terrifying”, but thankfully the event passed without too much of a hitch.
William chatted on the Climate of Change podcast from Audible, hosted by Blanchett, a member of the Earthshot Prize Council or judging panel, and climate entrepreneur and activist Danny Kennedy, who nominated a number of projects for the competition. When Blanchett said he appeared “quite hopeful” that we may be able to “work our way out of what seems to be a crisis”, the duke replied by quoting Christiana Figueres, chair of Earthshot’s board of trustees, saying he felt like a “stubborn optimist”.
