The Prince of Wales’ environmental roadshow arrives in Africa next week

LONDON — Prince William’s environmental innovation roadshow will take place in South Africa next week when the heir to the British throne announces the winners of his annual Earthshot Prize, aimed at finding new ways to combat climate change and other threats to the air, water and planet. wild nature.

William will travel to Cape Town for a series of events, culminating with the awards ceremony in two days. The event was the first to announce £1 million ($1.2 million) in prizes in Africa, following ceremonies in the UK, US and Singapore during the competition’s first three years.

William launched the prize in 2020 to encourage innovators and entrepreneurs to develop technologies to combat and mitigate global warming. The awards ceremony’s trip to Africa, a continent with which the prince has long-standing ties, gives him the opportunity to learn more about the innovation taking place there, Kensington Palace said in a statement.

“Despite having the smallest contribution to global warming and the fewest emissions, Africa is the most vulnerable continent to the effects of climate change,” the palace said. “However, in the face of these challenges, almost all African countries have committed to stepping up climate action by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building climate resilience.”

Finalists for this year’s prizes include a Kenyan company that makes solar energy systems for off-grid homes, a Ghanaian organization that teaches people to recycle and reuse waste instead of burning it, and a Kenyan firm that makes small solar-powered refrigeration units to help farmers and fishermen get their goods to market before they spoil.

During his stay in South Africa, William will meet with local groups to learn how they are working to protect and restore the planet – from protecting biodiversity in the Cape region to transforming the local fishing industry with new technologies, the palace said.

William will also attend the summit, sponsored by United for Wildlife, founded by the Prince and the Royal Foundation in 2013. The meeting will bring together representatives from law enforcement, environmental groups and companies that fight the trade in illegal wildlife products, which is worth an estimated $20 billion a year.

The trip will be William’s first visit to South Africa since 2010 and his first trip to Africa since 2018, when he visited Namibia, Tanzania and Kenya.

William said the award was inspired by a trip he took in 2018, when he felt pessimistic about the environment even after witnessing conservation work being done in Namibia.

The Earthshot Prize is named after the late President John F. Kennedy’s 1962 “moon” speech, which called on Americans to reach the moon by the end of that decade. William and his partners have a similar goal of finding solutions to climate change and other environmental problems by 2030.

Earthshot is offering £1 million in prizes to winners in each of five categories: nature conservation, clean air, ocean regeneration, waste management and climate change. The winners and all 15 finalists receive assistance in expanding their initiatives to meet global demand.

“Levels of climate anxiety and despondency are high, and policy interventions are moving too slowly,” the prize says on its website. “We want to unleash the urgent optimism needed to accelerate and scale the environmental innovation that will restore and revitalize our planet.”

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