Britain’s Prince William talks green tech at Earthshot event

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LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince William joined green entrepreneurs in London on Thursday at an event run by his charity Earthshot, which offers multi-million pound prizes to help fund environmental technologies.

William, 42, the heir to the throne, has a long-term interest in conservation and sustainability, and launched Earthshot in 2020, inspired by his father, King Charles, and late grandfather Prince Philip, who both championed nature.

At the event, William met beneficiaries of the environmental funding, as well as Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire philanthropist and former New York City Mayor, and British actress Hannah Waddingham, to discuss the prize’s progress and future ambitions.

William wants to be a driving force in helping deliver net zero and said he had set up Earthshot in response to world leaders’ uninspiring response to the climate change crisis.

The charity’s name borrows from the ambitious “Moonshot” project of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s and his goal for the 1969 moon landings.

William attended the Earthshot event at the Sky Garden, a public garden on the 35th floor of a building in London’s financial district, without his wife Catherine who is undergoing chemotherapy treatment.

During his wife’s illness, William has had to get used to attending events solo. Last week he was pictured at the London concert of U.S. music star Taylor Swift with two of his children, Charlotte and George.