Prince William urges faster climate action in personal essay
William, Prince of Wales has called for climate action to move faster, in a personal essay written exclusively for The Independent.
He said action must speed up before it is too late. Current measures are going “inch by inch”, he said, and are nowhere near enough to meet the problem. HELLO!
He pointed to a summer of “devastating” wildfires across Britain. That summer, he said, was a powerful reminder of what a warming climate risks.
Time is short. He called for efforts to step up through the rest of this decade, in effect setting a 2030 test.
His argument centres on The Earthshot Prize, the environmental competition he founded and leads as Founder and President. The prize awards five £1 million prizes each year for ten years, built around five goals, with the aim of delivering at least 50 solutions for the planet. William said the competition shows technological answers can be found.
The answers exist, he said. They are either not being used or not being used fast enough. The goals include fixing the climate, cleaning the air, protecting and restoring nature, and reviving oceans.
He has made the same point in person. At London Climate Week, William arrived by electric bus and told the audience that “history will ask what we did” about protecting the environment. BBC
The Earthshot team around him includes Robert Irwin as a Global Ambassador. The prize has also built an online match-making platform, the Earthshot Prize Launchpad, to connect winning ideas with money and support.
What makes this stand out is the tone. William is not announcing a new prize or a new target. He is pressing for speed in using ideas that already exist.
The essay was reported on 14 September 2026. William is scheduled to appear in Princetown on 15 September to launch a new regeneration scheme, with the Princetown Community Fund due to release £250,000 into the local community. The same date, 15 September, is the 42nd birthday of Prince Harry.
