Prince William had something funny to say about what’s changed since he launched the Earthshot Prize!
On Sunday, the Prince of Wales, 41, appeared in the latest episode of Sorted Food on YouTube to highlight the innovation of three 2022 Earthshot Prize winners, culminating in the creation of plant-based Earthshot Burger via the groundbreaking technology. Prince William walked into the Sorted Food kitchen with “Earthshot bits and pieces” — later revealed to be vegetables like those grown in Kheyti’s Greenhouse-in-a-box, a clean-burning Mukuru Clean Stove and seaweed and plant-based packaging from Notpla — and shared a bit of background about the exciting environmental prize.
“I don’t know if you guys have heard about the Earthshot Prize, but it’s an initiative I started about two years ago now although it’s been about four years in the making — I had hair when it started,” the Prince of Wales quipped. “It’s designed as an environmental prize tackling the world’s greatest environmental problems.”
Prince William has joked about his hair loss before. During a 2017 stop at Spitalfields Crypt Trust, a holistic recovery service for those dealing with complex drug and alcohol addictions and often homelessness, he told a neighborhood hairstylist, “I don’t have much hair, I can’t give you much business.”
Chatting with Sorted Food hosts Barry Taylor, Jamie Spafford, Mike Huttlestone and Ben Ebbrell in Sunday’s episode, William touched on how the Earthshot Prize was inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s Moonshot mission to land a man on the moon in 10 years and how he hoped to inject the same urgency into solving world’s most pressing environmental challenges via the prize.
“We liked the idea that this is a big deal, this is something we really need to aim for,” he explained. “But it’s about saving the planet, not taking us to the moon. And there’s many people out there who want us to move to the next planet already, and I’m like, ‘Hang on, let’s not give up on this planet yet. We’ve got a good thing going here. Let’s not give up on it just yet!’ ”
King Charles’ eldest son and heir has stressed similar sentiments in the past, saying that the funds and focus around space tourism would be better spent on addressing climate change on Earth.
“We need some of the world’s greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live,” Prince William said during an October 2021 appearance on BBC’s Newscast podcast, which came the day after actor William Shatner became the oldest person to leave Earth in a Blue Origin rocket from Jeff Bezos’ aerospace company.
The new video is the kick off to the Earthshot Prize teaming up with YouTube. Announced in May, the two-year partnership will see the Earthshot Prize work with the streaming platform to produce content which inspires users to drive action against climate change with stories of urgent optimism from around the world.
“From mini-documentaries and Q&As with the finalists of the awards to YouTube Shorts and creator collaborations, the content will help audiences better understand climate solutions in easily digestible formats,” according to the press release. “This includes amplifying series like the recently published ‘Most searched for climate questions’ and ‘Relax with the Earthshot Prize.’ ”
Prince William launched the Earthshot Prize in 2020 to incentivize the next generation of environmental change by reviving and repairing the land, air and sea. Winners across five categories — Protect and Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build a Waste-Free World and Fix Our Climate — receive over $1 million in prize money and support to scale solutions for global impact.
The inaugural awards ceremony was held in London in October 2021, followed by a similarly star-studded second cycle in Boston late last year.
Prince William and the Earthshot team are next headed to Singapore for the third annual Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony on Nov. 7.
Hannah Jones, CEO of the Earthshot Prize, previously told PEOPLE, “I think he and we are all very excited to be in Asia. We think it’s a real opportunity to spotlight what countries around the region are doing, what people are doing.”
With the countdown on, Jones added that Prince William, “doesn’t stay still. His ambition continues to grow, and rightly so. The focus is still completely, ‘What are we doing to impact? What is our impact? How do we scale our impact? How can we go faster?’ “
