How William and Kate are honoring climate innovators

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At an awards ceremony founded to champion groundbreaking solutions for climate change, the Prince and Princess of Wales brought a dose of glamor and inspiration to the intractable crisis, in hopes of drawing the public to their cause.

An international who’s who of public figures, politicians, philanthropists and celebrities gathered on Friday for the Earthshot Prize at Fenway Park in Boston, where Prince William and Princess Catherine handed out the awards at the end of their three-day visit to the U.S.

Inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s moonshot, Prince William established the environmental prize in 2020 to support climate innovators who are tackling the greatest existential threat to the planet.

“Sixty years ago, President John F. Kennedy captured the imagination of this great nation when he uttered the words that are as inspirational in 2022 as they were that bright sunny day in Houston in 1962: ‘We choose to go to the Moon in this decade, not because they are easy, but because they are hard,’” William said during his visit. “We face a challenge seemingly insurmountable as putting a person on the moon: reversing the damage that has been done to our planet.”

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The Earthshot awards distribute five 1 million pound prizes ($1.2 million) each year for 10 years in five different categories. This year’s winners were Mukuru Clean Stoves from Kenya, a startup called Kheyti from India, a program called Indigenous Women of the Great Barrier Reef from Australia, the company Notpla from the U.K. and 44.01 from Oman.

The glitzy award ceremony, the final event in their whirlwind visit, included performances by Annie Lennox, Billie Eilish and Ellie Goulding, with David Beckham flying back from the World Cup in Qatar to support William’s initiative, alongside Academy Award-winning actor Rami Malek, and actresses Shailene Woodley, Catherine O’Hara, with Daniel Dae Kim taking on emcee responsibilities. On the “green carpet” at the sustainable awards ceremony, Kate paid homage to William’s mother, the late Princess of Wales, wearing Diana’s emerald green choker for the first time.

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But despite Prince William’s efforts to draw attention to the threat of climate change, enormous resources, and his ability to convene some of the most notable individuals in the world to support his visionary project, his social soft power still faces headwinds with the ongoing battle to spur meaningful global action. Congress passed its biggest-ever climate legislation with the Inflation Reduction Act this year, but the U.S. and the international community is still far off the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Annie Lennox performs at the Earthshot award ceremony on Dec. 2, 2022. Photo courtesy The Earthshot Prize

“This year, we have seen the influence of climate change like never before, with record high temperatures and extreme weather events causing devastation across every continent, affecting people’s health and livelihoods. The urgency needed to save the planet is ever accelerating, while the time we have to make meaningful changes is ebbing away,” Prince William said at the ceremony.

Former Sen. John Kerry, the White House climate envoy, was in the audience alongside Caroline Kennedy and her children, part of a family who have often been considered American “royalty.” Kennedy, now ambassador to Australia, met William and Kate on the first day of their tour at a Celtics game and later hosted William at the JFK Presidential Library and Museum.

Prince William and Princess Kate also share a warm relationship with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden. The president took time out of his schedule Friday to met William at the JFK library for a discussion described as “warm, friendly, and substantive.” The Bidens’ last visit with the Royal family was a more somber affair, and William thanked the president for attending his grandmother’s funeral in September.

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Biden and the prince share concerns on the threat of climate change. Queen Elizabeth and William’s father King Charles were among the earliest high-profile voices drawing attention to environmental issues, long before global warming reached this critical phase. Prince William and Catherine have made the environment, mental health and education the cornerstone of their Royal Foundation’s work. The Bidens also met the couple during the COP26 summit in Glasgow and the Group of Seven G7 Summit in Cornwall, England, in 2021.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, and Prince William, Prince of Wales, during a visit to a Boston nonprofit organization focusing on high-risk young people on Dec. 1, 2022. Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage

The Earthshot council who selected the winners included luminaries like Queen Rania of Jordan, Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett and Sir David Attenborough, with support from philanthropists such as former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has worked as a UN climate envoy since 2014.

“Just as President John F. Kennedy had faith that humankind could put a man on the moon, I have the same faith today that we can repair and regenerate our planet in this critical decade,” William said. “From Moonshot to Earthshot, the seemingly unsolvable can be solved.”

At last year’s COP26, a 15-year-old Indian girl, and one of William’s Earthshot Prize finalists, received a standing ovation, according to the Washington Post. She told leaders to “stop talking and start doing,” and reminded them that her generation “will lead, even if you don’t. We will act, even if you delay.”

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This year’s prize winners have come up with equally innovative solutions, including one winner, Notpla, who have found a way to create packaging out of seaweed instead of plastic.

William’s Earthshot Prize is unlikely, in and of itself, to move leaders to act with urgency, to do not what is easy but what is hard when it comes to overhauling the use of fossil fuels. But that initiative and William may still help inspire the next generation to hold their leaders accountable, as Kennedy inspired a young generation in the space race 60 years ago.

The Earthshot Prize ceremony is now streaming at PBS, or you can watch the full show on Dec. 14 at 8 p.m. ET. Check your local PBS station for the time.