Prince William delivered a powerful speech during the fourth Earthshot Prize Award ceremony held in Cape Town on Wednesday, with a special nod to the African continent.
The Prince of Wales, in a show of respect to the African continent, kicked off his speech with greets in nine languages representing North, East, West and South Africa.
In his speech, William expressed his gratitude for the “most warm and generous welcome” he had received on his visit and continued to talk about his “ambition to champion the spirit of ingenuity that put a man on the moon within ten years.”
Prince William, who founded the initiative in 2020 to find solutions to repair the planet, shared that he was inspired during his trip to Namibia and Tanzania. He said that he was “lucky enough to see some of the stunning wildlife that calls this continent home”.
“What really struck me was the incredible impact local people were having on the environment around them,” William said. “Thanks to their ingenuity and creativity, biodiversity was returning, animals were being protected, and jobs were being created.”
He continued, “I saw first-hand the extent to which people were dedicating their time, talent and vision to fixing environmental challenges, but they weren’t getting the support they needed to speed their solutions to scale or to have them replicated worldwide.
“However, I believe our world can be rich in possibility, in hope, and in optimism.”
After expressing his support for the participants and their solutions to help heal the planet, William concluded the speech by thanking the audience in more African languages.
“Dankie, Enkosi, Daalu, Asante, Thank you,” he said.
