Prince William warned today that it is the “critical decade” to try to put the planet on a “healthier” path to deal with the climate crisis as he attended an event for an environmental competition he founded.
William joined supporters of the Earthshot Prize Launchpad, a new platform which aims to help develop and make potential climate change solutions a reality, today without his wife Kate, who has faced scrutiny after admitting to ‘ edited’ a family portrait.
Kate was pictured with her husband as she left Windsor Castle this afternoon just hours after she apologized for digitally editing a photo of her and her three children that was released on Sunday to mark Mother’s Day.
The Prince of Wales came to the Earthshot+ event today after attending a Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey with Queen Camilla and other senior royals. Kate did not turn up for the service.
William told guests at the launch event today that he wanted ‘to mobilize the enormous power of innovators wherever they are in the world.’
When William founded the Earthshot Prize environmental prize in 2020, he did so with the 10-year mission to find ways to protect and repair the environment with innovative solutions.
Prince William gives a speech at an event for the Earthshot Prize, an environmental competition he founded
Prince William was all smiles today as he attended the event at Frameless in central London
The Prince of Wales speaks to attendees at an event bringing together Earthshot Prize winners and finalists as well as investors and philanthropists to celebrate Launchpad at Frameless in central London
The Prince of Wales speaks to an attendee at the inaugural Earthshot+ event today
Prince William will leave Windsor for Westminster Abbey this afternoon with his wife the Princess of Wales by his side. She has not attended the Commonwealth Day service
The inaugural Earthshot+ event saw climate change experts, global leaders and business leaders gather in London to celebrate the Earthshot Prize Launchpad.
Highlighting the platform’s potential and impact, William argued that “it is only through action that we will create a sustainable future for generations to come”.
William gave opening remarks today as he attended the Earthshot+ event, revealing he created the competition after ‘how I can contribute to the collective global effort to protect our planet’.
He told those gathered, including former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who is an Earthshot Prize trustee: ‘From businesses, cities and governments; for activists, scientists and innovators, the ideas and ambition to put our planet on a healthier path already exist. But this is urgent.
‘We are in the critical decade now. And therefore, in order to have real impact, we must focus on supporting and developing as many solutions as possible and scaling them at speed. It is not an easy task.
“We must overcome the challenge of getting capital to the right sectors, solutions and geographies.”
Since 2021, the awards scheme has awarded £15 million in prize money and provided £50 million in additional support to 45 winners and finalists.
William added that to try to have ‘real impact’ efforts must be made to focus on ‘supporting and developing as many solutions as possible and scaling them at speed – it’s not an easy task’.
The new pilot platform has been created to connect funders with current and past finalists and nominees and support their funding needs and development.
So far, there are 25 solutions with funding needs of more than US$500m (£390m) currently being targeted by Launchpad, and 135 institutional investors have already signed up as members, William said.
Hannah Jones, chief executive of the prize, said: ‘Launchpad marks a significant step forward for the Earthshot Prize on its journey to scale innovative solutions from around the globe and become a global platform for impact.
‘Over the past four years, the award has scoured the planet for the best environmental innovations.
“Now, with the knowledge we’ve gained from our annual nomination process, we’re empowering investors and philanthropists to discover the incredible solutions in our network, while opening doors for promising innovations to further scale.”
Launchpad is billed as an online match-making platform that connects Earthshot innovators with like-minded investors and philanthropists.
Launchpad must offer access to a database of scalable environmental solutions and information about their current funding needs.
Then these funders can browse and discover potential matches.
Over the next year, the award hopes to triple the number of solutions on the platform by including outstanding nominees from all sectors and geographies, in addition to those who have been winners and finalists.
Frederick Teo, CEO of a company called GenZero, a potential backer that has already started looking into the platform, believes Launchpad could help ‘play a critical role’ in connecting investors ‘with impactful and innovative solutions aimed at tackling the urgent global climate crisis’.
Anuradha Bajaj, Earthshot Prize’s director of innovation marketplace and investment, said: ‘Launchpad is unique because it brings together a diversity of funding sources – small and large investors, banks and asset managers, family offices, foundations, and public donors – who can jointly meet the needs for the remarkable solutions in our database.
“Whether it’s an African start-up, Asian advocacy or European non-profit, we want to showcase the best solutions that can help restore and regenerate our planet.”
Kensington Palace yesterday released the first photo of the Princess of Wales since the operation
Kate also published the apology on the Prince and Princess of Wales’ Instagram account
Kate was seen looking out the car window as William appeared to be reading notes
The event was held after a day of controversy over a digitally manipulated photograph of Williams’ family.
Issued by the couple’s Kensington Palace office on Sunday to mark Mother’s Day, it was the first official picture of 42-year-old Kate since undergoing stomach surgery almost two months ago.
Several news agencies that originally published the family portrait image retracted the image due to concerns about digital manipulation.
The withdrawals sent the online rumor mill, already abuzz with speculation about Kate’s surgery and recovery, into overdrive.
In a social media post, the Princess of Wales publicly took the blame for the doctored photograph and issued a personal apology for the ‘confusion’.
She said that “like many amateur photographers, I occasionally experiment with editing.”
“I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion caused by the family photo we shared yesterday,” the post read.
Earlier, the palace released several of Kate’s family snapshots of her and heir to the throne, Prince William, with their children Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.
The latest photo was taken by William, Kensington Palace said. In an accompanying message on social media, Kate said: ‘Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the past two months. I wish everyone a happy mother’s day.’
A smiling Prince William enters the Commonwealth Service this afternoon
Queen Camilla and Prince William giggle as they take the royal walk through the abbey
Queen Camilla and the Prince of Wales attend the annual Commonwealth Day Service
Although there was no indication that the photo was fake, agencies retracted it because closer inspection revealed that the source had manipulated the photo in a way that did not meet their photo standards.
For example, it contained an inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte’s left hand with the sleeve of her sweater.
Major news agencies including The Associated Press, Getty, Reuters, AFP and PA all issued kill notices over the photo.
Kensington Palace said it would not release the original unedited photograph. And while Kate’s statement provided some clarity, it seemed unlikely to stop the rumor mill that has accelerated during her absence from public duties.