Prince William begins a tour of South Africa focused on climate and environment

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Britain’s Prince William will meet young environmentalists and local fishermen during a visit to South Africa that begins Monday and will focus on climate change and conservation. He will also see his annual Earthshot Prize award $1.2 million in grants to five organizations for innovative environmental ideas.

The 42-year-old heir to the throne will also attend a global wildlife conference and spend time at a marine rescue center during the four-day event in Cape Town, as part of his official tour. of the Earthshot Awards on Wednesday night.

He will use the visit to highlight other issues close to his heart, such as the work of rangers on the front lines of conservation efforts, officials said.

The visit comes as the finances of William and his father, King Charles III, are being scrutinized following an investigation by The Sunday Times newspaper and Britain’s Channel 4 television. The investigation found their estates The private sector makes millions of pounds by leasing property to government agencies, including the armed forces, the National Health Service and public schools.

These two areas, the duke’s Duchy of Lancaster and the duke’s Duchy of Cornwall, have commercial, residential and agricultural estates that provide personal income to members of the royal family.

The Duchy of Lancaster responded that while the king has an interest in the estate, day-to-day operations are overseen by an independent council and administrators. The Duchy of Cornwall says the building is driven by business need “along with our commitment to restoring the natural environment and creating a positive impact on our community.”

William, Prince of Wales, last visited Africa in 2018, but has a strong connection to the continent. William traveled to Africa as a boy after his mother, Princess Diana, died in a car crash in Paris in 1997. He and his wife, Kate, got engaged at a zoo appeared in Kenya in 2010. And he says he came up with the idea for the Earthshot Awards while in Namibia in 2018.

“Africa has always had a special place in my heart as I found solace in my youth, where I proposed to my wife, and more recently, as the founder of the Earthshot Prize, ” William said in a statement before his visit. .

Kate, Princess of Wales, and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis are not visiting South Africa. Kate, 42, recently returned to public duties after completing treatment for an undisclosed cancer.

William’s visit comes shortly after his brother Harry, the Duke of Sussex, visited South Africa and neighboring Lesotho last month for a youth charity he founded in South Africa with a member of the family. the kingdom of Lesotho.

William established the Earthshot Prize at the Royal Foundation in 2020 to encourage new ideas to solve environmental problems; started in 2021. The first three award ceremonies were held in Britain, the United States and Singapore.

William said he wanted this year’s awards to encourage young people involved in climate action across Africa, a continent of about 1.5 billion people who contribute to global warming, but who most vulnerable to weather conditions.

A large swath of southern Africa is currently facing its worst drought and famine in decades, with 27 million people badly affected, according to the United Nations.

The Earthshot Awards are presented in five categories: protecting and restoring nature, clean air, revitalizing the oceans, building a clean world and fixing the climate. This year’s contestants include a Kenyan company that develops solar power systems for homes, a group in Ecuador that unites Indian communities to protect forests, and a conservation project in Kazakhstan that saves Saiga meat it is endangered.

The awards ceremony will be held in a temporary, reusable venue that has been built in a field near the stadium in Cape Town. The 470-meter-tall structure has hosted other events in South Africa and will be dismantled for reuse after the Earthshot awards, organizers said.

Although climate change and threats to the environment are at the center of William’s visit, he will briefly digress from those topics to a high school in an impoverished Cape Town neighborhood, where he is expected to join children in an exercise rugby.

Rugby is one of the most popular sports in South Africa and the national team the Springboks dominate the world. William is also a rugby fan.

“I can promise you will see the Prince of Wales play rugby,” a Kensington Palace spokesman said of the planned visit to the school.

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Associated Press reporter Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.

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AP News Africa: https://apnews.com/hub/africa