Prince of Wales' environmental roadshow to arrive in Africa next week

LONDON — (AP) — Prince William's roadshow for environmental innovation will arrive in South Africa next week as 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 planet's air, water and wildlife.

William will travel to Cape Town for a series of events culminating in the awards ceremony two days later. The event marks the first time the 1 million pound ($1.2 million) prizes have been announced in Africa, following ceremonies in Britain, the U.S. and Singapore during the competition’s first three years.

William created the prize in 2020 to encourage inventors and entrepreneurs to develop technologies to combat global warming and mitigate its impact. Taking the awards ceremony to Africa, a continent with which the prince has longstanding links, gives him a chance to learn more about the innovation that is taking place there, Kensington Palace said in a statement.

“Despite contributing the least to global warming and having the lowest emissions, Africa is the most vulnerable continent to the impacts of climate change,’’ the palace said. “Yet in the face of these challenges, nearly all African countries have committed to enhancing climate action through reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and building climate resilience.’’

Among the finalists for this year’s prizes are a Kenyan company that makes solar energy systems for homes that aren’t connected to the energy grid, a Ghanaian organization that teaches people how to recycle and reuse waste instead of burning it, and a Kenyan firm that makes small solar-powered refrigeration units to help farmers and fisherman get their goods to market before they spoil.

During his time 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 through new technology, the palace said.

William will also attend a summit sponsored by United for Wildlife, founded by the prince and The Royal Foundation in 2013. The meeting will include representatives of law enforcement agencies, conservation groups and companies that are working to combat the trade in illegal wildlife products, which is estimated at $20 billion annually.

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

William has said he was inspired to found the prize after the 2018 trip, when he was struck by a sense of pessimism about the environment even after witnessing conservation work that was underway in Namibia.

The Earthshot Prize is named after the late President John F. Kennedy's 1962 "moonshot" speech, which challenged Americans to reach the moon by the end of that decade. William and his partners have set a similar goal for finding solutions to climate change and other environmental problems by 2030.

Earthshot offers 1 million pound prizes to the winners in each of five categories: nature protection, clean air, ocean revival, waste elimination and climate change. The winners and all 15 finalists receive help in expanding their initiatives to meet global demand.

“Levels of climate anxiety and despondency are high and political interventions are happening too slowly,” the prize says on its website. “We want to unleash the urgent optimism required to accelerate and scale the environmental innovations that will repair and regenerate our planet.”

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