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Prince William said he wants to “provide leadership and vision that there’s good things to come” as he prepared for his fifth Earthshot Awards in Rio this evening. The Prince of Wales was attending the Earthshot Prize Impact Assembly at Pier 3, part of the three-day Earthshot summit in Rio, bringing together government officials, indigenous leaders and youth advocates to share inspiring Earthshot stories from the past year and highlighting investments which are helping finalists scale up their environmental solutions. During a “fireside chat” with the event’s anchor, the CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour, William, 43, spoke of being positive for his own children and young people around the world . He said: “You have to provide a leadership and a vision that there’s good things to come and it’s not all negative. And for my children, particularly, knowing that the planet’s going to be in a better, healthier state because of the people in this room is something I love to tell them when they go to bed – it’s going to be great, your future is going to be as bright as futures gone by and that’s a really important message for all us to hear.” He added: “A world without hope and a world without positivity is a pretty depressing place.” Asked about his recent references to making “changes” to the monarchy, and about “a lot of change in your own family – where do you see the change, what do you think needs to happen?” William replied: “I think the Earthshot Prize is a classic example of change, rather than talking about it, we’re doing it. Change will come by backing them, not by what I do. It’s really important that the next generation believe that change is coming.” William travelled to the event on the Earthshot Prize Tram down the specially-created “Earthshot Boulevard”, where he was met by Earthshot chief executive Jason Knauf, who showed him a timeline of the Prize’s 5 years to date and gave an introductory speech to delegates, declaring: “Our 2025 finalists are transforming our world. Our success is inevitable and our momentum is unstoppable.” Ardern described the past five year’s finalists as “ambassadors of optimism”. The panel discussions also included Barbados’s Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Brazil’s environment minister Marina Silva and Jacinda Ardern, the former prime minister of New Zealand and Earthshot board trustee. During her discussion onstage, Mottley said of global climate activism: “We’re going in the right direction but not fast enough. It takes cash to cure and cash to build.” Several finalists also took to the stage to announce new deals for their initiatives, including Adam Root, the founder and CEO of Matter, whose washing machine filters remove microfibres from wastewater. Root told the assembly he has secured a multi-million pound deal with Ikea to scale up Matter’s technology internationally. Speaking to the media after the event, Ardern said: “This prize is making a difference. It’s not just an award, it’s a catalyst for change.” Asked if the Prize might travel to New Zealand in the next five years, she said: “The goal of the Eartshot Prize is to reach every corner of the world. There’s no nepotism on the board! I advocate for the region, and the region advocates very well for itself.” This evening, William will be joined at the Earthshot Awards by the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer , where he will give a landmark speech at the Museum of Tomorrow, hailing the finalists’ work to create solutions to some of the world’s biggest environmental challenges.
