Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is joining Prince William’s Earthshot Prize as she announced two new roles for her post-politics career.
Ms Ardern, 42, shocked the world after announcing her resignation earlier this year, saying she no longer had “enough in the tank”.
She will join the board of Earthshot, which awards five £1m prizes each year for work providing solutions to major environmental problems.
It is an honour to welcome @jacindaardern to the @EarthshotPrize team. Her life-long commitment to supporting sustainable and environmental solutions, along with her experience as Prime Minister of New Zealand, will bring a rich infusion of new thinking to our mission. W https://t.co/FYlKVqEeRl
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) April 4, 2023
She said she “believed Earthshot’s power to encourage and spread not only the innovation we desperately need, but also optimism”.
Prince William said that Ms Ardern would “bring a rich infusion of new thinking to our mission”.
“Four years ago, before The Earthshot Prize even had a name, Jacinda was one of the first people I spoke to, and her encouragement and advice was crucial,” he said.
Ms Ardern will also take on an unpaid role to help lead efforts against violent extremism.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced on Tuesday that Ms Ardern has been appointed as special envoy for the Christchurch Call, a newly created position.
The Christchurch Call is an initiative that works alongside international governments and social media companies to combat extremism and terrorist content online.
The organisation was founded after a white supremacist gunman stormed two mosques in Christchurch - killing 51 people.
“The Christchurch Call is a foreign policy priority for the government and Jacinda Ardern is uniquely placed to keep pushing forward with the goal of eliminating violent extremist content online,” Mr Hipkins said in a statement.
“Terrorist and violent extremist content online is a global issue, but for many in New Zealand it is also very personal.”
Ms Ardern became the world’s youngest female head of government in 2017, at 37.
She was praised for her response after mosque-goers in Christchurch were killed, meeting the community and delivering gun reform.
She also largely kept the coronavirus out of New Zealand for 18 months, but was forced to abandon that zero-tolerance strategy as more variants spread and vaccines became widely available.
Ms Ardern faced growing anger at home from those who opposed coronavirus mandates and rules.
