Prince William has had a lot to say this week, attending three events about the environment as part of London Climate Action Week and giving three speeches.
But I wouldn’t be surprised if you haven’t really heard what he had to say. The eyes of the world have, understandably, been elsewhere.
Conflict, not the climate crisis, has been the primary focus of world leaders and continues to be – a problem you could say for William and all those trying to whip up momentum ahead of COP30 in Brazil, with only four months to go until the UN’s climate conference in November.
It was William and his team who specifically convened a meeting at St James’s Palace on Thursday with the Brazilian ministers in charge of the summit and indigenous leaders from other parts of the world.
Prince William attended an event called ‘Nature’s Guardians’ at St James’s Palace this week. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
With Ed Miliband, the secretary of state for energy security and net zero, just a few seats away, William made a call to action, saying: “We’ve made bold commitments: to halt deforestation, restore ecosystems, and protect 30% of land, sea, and water by 2030.
“But these goals will remain out of reach unless we move from promises to action – grounded in respect, equity, and shared responsibility.
“Looking ahead to COP30 in Belem and beyond, we must act with greater ambition and deeper collaboration. This is a moment for courage.”
When I put it to a palace source that maybe it all feels a bit futile in the current climate, with attentions firmly elsewhere, I was told there is “no change in course” – the prince always has and will continue “to use his platform to spotlight the need to restore the planet”.
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In the past, we’ve been more used to his father being more vocal.
The King’s involvement in London Climate Week was more fleeting, albeit involving a handshake with a giant gorilla puppet, and a discussion with the Brazil delegation in which he hinted that he would love to attend the summit in November, saying: “It’s fitting it all in.”
Attendance by either the King or the Prince of Wales hasn’t been confirmed yet, although it’s looking likely William will go. He told one person this week: “I’ll be in the area”, with his Earthshot Prize being held in Rio in the days running up to the climate conference.
But in the coming months, we do now know that father and son will be meeting with one key player, who has certainly voiced very different views on the severity of the climate crisis.
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This week, it was confirmed that Donald Trump’s full state visit to the UK will go ahead later this year, likely in September.
His potentially disruptive presence when it came to the climate debate was hinted at on Tuesday, in front of Prince William, during a speech by former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg.
Mr Bloomberg, a global adviser to Earthshot Prize, said: “There’s a good reason to be optimistic, lots of problems around the world, America has not been doing its share lately to make things better, I don’t think. Nevertheless, I’m very optimistic about the future.”
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The King and Prince William have worked in this environmental sphere long enough to weather the frustrations of other distractions, a lack of interest or momentum.
I’ll never forget in 2015 ahead of COP21, when Islamic State and Syria were dominating the news agenda, Prince Charles told me very firmly that of course there was a link between the civil war in Syria and climate change.
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He said there was “very good evidence indeed that one of the major reasons for this horror in Syria was a drought that lasted for about five or six years, which meant that huge numbers of people in the end had to leave the land”.
“It’s only in the last few years that the Pentagon have actually started to pay attention to this,” he added at the time. “I mean, it has a huge impact on what is happening.”
But as a family, they know how much their global profile and ability to get people in the room can help attract attention that others simply can’t.
It’s easy to be sniffy about that convening power, but as one delegate at an Earthshot event put it, they have an ability to “bring people together not around politics but purpose”. And in a currently noisy, fractured world, it feels like that is needed more than ever.
