Prince William Urges World Leaders to Approach the Climate Crisis 'Without Fear or Despair'

The Duke of Cambridge introduced his Earthshot Prize finalists and winners to attendees at the COP26 climate summit on Tuesday: "I'm asking you to create the conditions in which they can thrive"

Photo: ALASTAIR GRANT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Prince William has taken his mission to repair the planet on the road — latest stop: Glasgow.

The Duke of Cambridge has spent his second day of the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference surrounded by the winners and finalists of his inaugural Earthshot Prize Awards.

During several events on Tuesday, the prince impressed the urgency of the climate crisis upon attendees — and emphasized his confidence that the Earthshot innovators will be able to make progress and find creative solutions.

At the "Accelerating Clean Technology Innovation and Deployment" event on Tuesday afternoon, he urged the global politicians and business leaders in the audience "to look without fear or despair at the challenges ahead in this crucial decade, and to believe that we humans have the ingenuity to make the seemingly impossible, possible."

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As proof of this possibility he introduced all 15 Earthshot finalists, selected from among hundreds of nominations from every continent, calling them "the brightest and boldest amongst us ... the real superstars in this room today."

"Their ingenuity is amazing. Their potential is off the charts," he continued.

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Among the finalists was 15-year-old Vinisha Umashankar from India, whom William described as "the brains behind a solar ironing cart, with the potential to improve air quality by replacing charcoal with solar power for literally millions of street vendors."

He added, "This is just one of her many inventions. She puts us all to shame."

Summing up his Earthshot finalists, he told the audience, "I hope our finalists have given you cause for optimism. They represent a growing wave of innovators, dedicating their time and talent to finding solutions to repair our planet. Today, I'm asking you to create the conditions in which they can thrive, and their ideas can scale."

Earlier in the day, William was joined by Michael Bloomberg at a meeting of the Earthshot Prize Global Alliance. The prince took the opportunity to praise the finalists for their unflagging commitment to the kind of work that "brings to life the shared ambition we have to repair our planet together."

Prince William (center) with U.N. Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions Michael Bloom (fourth from left) and several Earthshot Prize winners, including Sam Teicher (far right). ALASTAIR GRANT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

William, 39, previously wrote an op-ed with the former Mayor of New York City, 79, who is a United Nations special envoy on climate change, declaring that "waiting is not option" when it comes to the climate crisis.

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On Tuesday, he told the Earthshot innovators "thank you for believing that we can face the vast challenges in front of us today, and for doing your utmost to overcome them."

He added, "I'm sure I speak on behalf of everyone here in saying that we will not just cheer you on, but we will actively support you to succeed."

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"We are still at the start of our journey together," he said. "I am honored and proud to be working alongside you all to achieve this goal."