Strong on the heels of Greta Thunberg’s visit to the United States and United Nations climate change conference in Spain, a royal member of the UK family is making a very public statement backed with funds to match. In an article by Simon Perry in People Magazine, of all places, a very important global mission was revealed in an article called: Prince William Unveils Ambitious New Environmental Mission: ‘The Earth Is at a Tipping Point and We Face a Stark Choice’.
The first three paragraphs from the article (see link below) are as follows:
“On Tuesday, the royal unveiled a multimillion-dollar international award to harness the best ideas for tackling the biggest environmental challenges in the world.
William, 37, has set his sights on spending the next decade rewarding visionaries and innovation. Called Earthshot, it will be awarded to five winners a year for the next decade, generating what William hopes will be 50 solutions by 2030.
‘The earth is at a tipping point and we face a stark choice: either we continue as we are and irreparably damage our planet or we remember our unique power as human beings and our continual ability to lead, innovate and problem-solve,’ William said in a statement. ‘Remember the awe inspiring civilizations that we have built, the life-saving technology we have created, the fact that we have put a man on the moon. People can achieve great things. And the next 10 years presents us with one of our greatest tests: a decade of change to repair the earth.’”
The case for change to reward climate change action innovation was echoed when “Dr. M. Sanjayan, CEO of Conservation International, added in a statement, ‘We have a very small window, 10 years, to jolt earth onto a path of sustainability. It can sound terrifying – or it can sound like one of history’s greatest opportunities. Yes, the challenges are daunting. But how we react is still, in this sliver of time left, entirely up to us – and that is what the Earthshot Prize is all about. It’s about this opportunity in front of us, right now, to choose to put our energies towards taking action and uncovering solutions, to choose to create the future we want over settling for the one that we fear.’”
It is good to see more public figures cite the need to act, especially with the recalcitrant US president who is beholden to the fossil fuel industry. Fortunately, good things are happening around the globe and in the US, but more is needed to address the climate change impact which is already happening. I applaud the future King. We all should.
musingsofanoldfart 
I am very pleased that you chose to share this exciting much needed venture by Prince William with your followers. I hope that your post is seen by many and that they spread the news. I had just heard of this upon my arrival home around 4 PM today, when my my dear neighborhood friend excitedly shared it with me. She and I are deeply interested and involved in bringing attention to the climate crisis. She told me to Google “earthshotprize.org.” and that brought me to the story of this mission. It also gives one access to signing up for their email newsletter…I immediately signed up! Thank-you! Happy New Year!
Thanks Ellen for your comment, your advocacy and the weblink. It is great Prince William is using his notoriety and incenting positive action.
Thank you, dear Ellen!!!
Note to Readers: Please refer to Ellen’s comment for a link to Earthspot. There is another investment coalition called The Breakthrough Energy Coalition that was formed at the Paris Climate Change Accord. It brought 180 companies and major investors to fund innovation. There link is https://www.b-t.energy
Prince William should take pride in the advances made by Scotland in tidal energy using turbines beneath the rocky North Sea. They are building off existing ships and cables. It is a replicable effort which others are beginning to copy.
For a good synopsis on what is needed, check out the documentary “Ice on Fire.” It speaks of putting less carbon in the air and taking more out of the air.
What a truly wonderful thing to do! Thank you for sharing this, Keith … perhaps there is hope after all!
Thanks for the reblog Jill. This is a good news message because of the importance, source and funding. The notoriety is important – in Florida, Dade County (Miami) and three adjacent counties are spending $200 million (not near enough, but a start) to keep the ocean water from coming up through the street drains. Yet, this expenditure remains a secret to far too many. You would think the two Florida Senators would care, but when Rick Scott was Governor he forbade officials from using “climate change” in public disseminations.
Always my pleasure, Keith. It is a great message, and one that I hope will work its way to this side of the pond, where our government is doing everything in its power to reverse our previous environmental regulations, rather than implement stricter regulations. We are so far behind much of the rest of the developed world now that it makes us a laughingstock … except that this isn’t funny. Rick Scott, Donald Trump, and many others like them need to be relegated to the annals of history and quickly, so that we can move forward as a nation in doing our part to save our planet.
Jill, thanks. While we are behind as a federal government leading the way, we do have many good things happening with solar and wind energy and the retirement of coal plants. But, much more could be done with a leader in the White House. Keith
Reblogged this on Filosofa's Word and commented:
What better way to close out one year and begin a new one than with a bit of good news? Our friend Keith has kindly provided us with just the thing to let us believe that perhaps there is hope for humans after all. Thank you, Keith!
Jill, I appreciate your leveraging this important message with a reblog. Ellen’s speaks a hard truth – we need to get this message heard. Thanks, Keith
Prince William has always been a staunch supporter of environmental issues. This is good to know. Thanks.
Hugh, thanks. I agree. His lending his notoriety and funding is extremely important. For the hoaxers, a question would be “why is someone spending so much time and money on something that is not man influenced?” Keith
Note to Readers II: I mentioned the documentary movie “Ice on Fire” in a comment above. Here is a link to an earlier post on the movie:
https://musingsofanoldfart.wordpress.com/2019/06/14/ice-on-fire/
Great news Keith isn’t it?
And by addition
This is an extract from Queen Elizabeth II Christmas Message to the Nation:
“The challenges many people face today may be different to those once faced by my generation, but I have been struck by how new generations have brought a similar sense of purpose to issues such as protecting our environment and our climate”
So from now on anyone who attack youngster like Greta Thunberg also de facto attacks our Queen…that should tie the nasty little folk up in knots
Roger, that is terrific. Of course, after Pope Francis, a chemist by training, wrote his paper on addressing climate change, a number of Republicans said he should stick to God’s work. One of those was former Florida governor Jeb Bush.
Of course, the answer is “if not them, who?” I think a Queen, a Prince, a Pope and a sixteen year old girl understand what is going on. Some in the GOP are paying attention. My recommendation is if folks don’t want to get on board, the train should move on. Keith
My theory is the deniers’ bodies are warning by instinct something is up and that scares them, so they deny even more.
Roger, true. Another way of saying it is if they acknowledge the problem, they must do something about it. Keith
It is not nearly the problem as that of the people who insist that something which has not happened is an established fact. Any initiative to disassemble the power supply system to ‘replace’ it with a mishmash of dubious merit is likely to cause real catastrophe far sooner than any speculated change driven by a fractional change in a trace gas. Pensioners are already perishing by the 10’s of thousands in the U.K. due to the price of grid power during cold spells.Australia and Germany have pioneered ‘green power’ and are suffering both shortfall ( with flight of industry ) and wild consumer cost increases.
Thanks for your comment. I must disagree with the severity of concern. There are over 30,000 websites addressing how it is a hoax, not man influenced, not as bad, etc. There are about 750 science peer reviewed sites which speak of the concerns. It is easy to see where the money goes.
While I agree there are distribution infrastructure issues that need to be better dealt with, some of your argument is dated. Solar and wind energy are on par cost wise with coal to produce and when you factor in the present value of all costs – acquisition, transport, health, maintenance of ash, and litigation due to seepage – renewables easily beat the cost of coal. Right now, building new coal plants is an unwise cost decision.
In the US, Iowa gets over 40% of its electricity from wind energy (as of Oct, 2019), while Texas gets over 1/6 of its electricity from wind and is the largest wind energy producing state and 5th largest in the world, if measured as a country.
As for the threat, Miami’s Dade and three surrounding counties are spending $200 million to try to keep the ocean from coming up through the street drains on sunny days. This “sunny day flooding” is a term we will hear more from in places like Norfolk, New Orleans and other low lying areas.
Finally, from an investment standpoint, a study reveals significant property value loss in in coastal homes. I wrote of this a few months back. Plus, Mercer, the OECD and the largest global pension scheme trustees cited in 2010, their estimates in the tens of trillions of the cost of addressing the increasing forest fires, stalled weather systems, droughts, intense hurricanes and rising sea levels. I think that is low, to be frank.
I am sorry to disagree, but we have a problem that we need to deal with. Nayssaying its degree is not going to cut it. And, yes we must deal with the infrastructure issues in an elegant manner. From a personal standpoint, this was a key reason I left the Republican Party (to become sn Independent) twelve years ago. If they refuse to address the biggest problem facing us, then I have concerns about their ability to address other important issues.
Thanks for your comment. Keith