William: The future is ours to determine
HOLLYWOOD stars arrived in recycled outfits as they joined the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge yesterday for the first awards ceremony for William’s environmental prize.
The duke was making a call for society to “unite in repairing our planet” at the inaugural awards ceremony for the Earthshot Prize.
Harry Potter star Emma Watson, wearing a wedding dress made of ten dresses from Oxfam, and Dame Emma Thompson were among those on the “green carpet” at Alexandra Palace in London.
The Duchess of Cambridge arrived wearing an Alexander McQueen dress made for her in 2011, while her husband wore a dark green velvet blazer and a polo neck.
No stars have flown to London and guests were asked by organisers to “consider the environment when choosing their outfit”.
Speaking on her way into the event, Dame Emma criticised throwaway culture and said her parents would have been horrified by how society dumps its waste on the streets. She said: “If we had shown my parents how people live [today], how they will wander down the streets and coffee cup, immediately throw it away, eat, throw away, everything throwaway, they would have gone: ‘What’s going on?’.”
William launched his prize to find solutions to the planet’s environmental problems and overcome the pessimism felt by many on its future.
Judges included broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, actress Cate Blanchett and singer Shakira.
In the ceremony, in a short film recorded on the London Eye, William said: “We are alive in the most consequential time in human history. The actions we choose or choose not to take in the next ten years will determine the fate of the planet for the next thousand. A decade doesn’t seem long, but humankind has an
outstanding record of being able to solve the unsolvable.
“Many of the answers are already out there... but we need everyone – from all parts of society – to raise their ambition and unite in repairing our planet. The future is ours to determine and, if we set our minds to it, nothing is impossible.”
Ed Sheeran, Coldplay and KSI performed during the ceremony, shown on BBC One, and actors Watson, Dame Emma and David Oyelowo, and Liverpool FC striker Mo Salah, were due to hand out the awards.
The ceremony comes ahead of the COP26 UN climate change conference in Glasgow in a few weeks.
Speaking ahead of the Earthshot ceremony, Prince Charles said: “I am very proud of my son William for his growing commitment to the environment and the bold ambition of the Earthshot Prize.”
The prize takes its inspiration from the Apollo moon landings, nicknamed Moonshot, which helped advance mankind’s technological achievements. It had five categories, or Earthshots – Protect and restore nature; Clean our air, Revive our oceans; Build a waste-free world; and Fix our climate – which, if achieved by 2030, would improve life for all, organisers say.
Every year from 2021 until the end of the decade, winners of the five Earthshots will each receive £1 million to develop their projects.