Prince William has announced a multi-million pound ‘Earth Shot Prize’ to tackle the climate crisis. Earth Shot Price- an ambitious decade-long program, will be awarded to five people each year for 50 solutions for the greatest climatic problems by 2030.
Prince William pledged “a decade of action to repair the Earth” in the announcement. He asserted that the world faces “stark choice” to continue “irreparably” damaging the planet or “lead, innovate and problem-solve”.
Sir David Attenborough narrated the video of the ‘Earth Shot Prize’ that Kensington Palace posted on social media.
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Veteran broadcaster and naturalist said that the reward will go to “visionaries rewarded over the next decade for responding to the great challenges of our time”. The award will be launched later in the year and will be bestowed from 2021. The contest is open to communities, organizations, and individuals.
Nearly 60 experts and organizations were consulted in the development of the prize. The Royal Foundation of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will run the price initially but later it can function as an independent organization. Philanthropists and organizations will support the Earth Shot Prize.
Kensington Palace posted Prince William’s picture clicked in Chitral while announcing the Earth Shot Prize.
Royal couple’s visit to Chitral
Prince William and Duchess Kate Middleton had visited Chitral on a one-day trip. The trip to the Chitral valley and Hindu Kush mountain range aimed to address the climate change on melting glaciers in the region.
The couple visited Chiatibo Glacier in the Hindu Kush mountain range in Chitral to witness the effects of climate change and the consequences of global warming.
Read more: Royal Visit to Pakistan: William & Kate Sported Traditional Chitrali Caps
The locals asserted that the visit will highlight the plight of the Chitral valley- the most affected area by natural calamities and climate change.
The royal couple had never witnessed before a melting glacier in person hence they asked to come here to witness what Kensington Palace described as “the very real consequences of global warming”.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge view a melting glacier in the Hindu Kush mountain range of Pakistan. The couple hope their visit will shine a light on the consequences of climate change. (📷Neil Hall via @PAImages) pic.twitter.com/ShO63v8oL2
— Lizzie Robinson (@LizzieITV) October 16, 2019
Royal coupled defined Chitral as the most isolated part of Asia but adversely hit by the climatic changes.
The rural population in Chitral is doing less to harm their environment but bearing the brunt of the man-made ravages to the climate. The community is hard hit with the flash floods, the floods in 2015 damaged their livestock and farming lands on which their livelihood depends.
"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." — The Duke of Cambridge @EarthshotPrize pic.twitter.com/SfGaKY9qsG
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) December 31, 2019
During his visit to the Chitral, Prince William said, it was very important for them to travel to Pakistan to use their voice to highlight the adversaries of climate change.
“We have seen around the world now, the young are getting very engaged with what’s going on, I think it’s fantastic we can come together and have a really good conversation about what we need to do and action needs to happen,” he said.
In one of his key speeches in Pakistan, he spoke at length about the alarming impact of temperature increase in “northern Pakistan’s highest mountains.” Adding that “This could lead to a loss of over a third of these vital glaciers in less than a century.”
Pakistan’s efforts to fight climate change
Meanwhile, the agenda to thwart the adverse impacts of climate change in Pakistan also tops the list of PM Khan, who is the patron of the tree plantation projects across Pakistan.
Last year in March, the federal government initiated a 10 billion tree plantation initiative. Prime Minister Imran Khan stated that the success of the Billion Tree Tsunami project encouraged the government to take the initiative of the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami project.
The PTI-led government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa initiated the tree plantation drive in 2013 to tackle the climatic change since Pakistan is amongst the top six countries adversely affected by climate change.
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The green-growth aims to reduce deforestation and the resultant devastation caused by floods in the region.
Meanwhile, the latest satellite images released by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) showed Pakistan is the fastest greening country in the world due to the recent reforestation projects including Imran Khan’s Billion Tree Tsunami.
NASA’s images were endorsed by the United Nations, Bonn Convention, and the World Economic Forum.