Prince William made an appearance at London Climate Action Week on Tuesday, alongside Mike Bloomberg and (dun dun dun) Jason Knauf. Knauf is now the CEO of Earthshot, and this event was Earthshot-related. There were speeches, some kind of forum and William sat in between Knauf and Bloomberg. I’ve always wondered if Bloomberg gets tired of funding William’s exercises in narcissism.
The Prince of Wales has shared his excitement about travelling to Rio de Janeiro for the fifth Earthshot Prize Awards later this year.
Prince William, 43, confirmed his attendance at this year’s ceremony in Brazil as he spoke on a panel discussion at the Leading with Impact event during London Climate Action Week at Bloomberg in the city on Tuesday.
The future King said: “From a personal point of view, I’ve always wanted to get South America, particularly Brazil. So I’m personally very excited about going down there. I think South America as a whole, the amount of ecosystem, kind of environmental interest and passion that is there. I think that’s really important. And I think they epitomise the approach to what we can be doing more sustainably. The vibrancy, the energy, the enthusiasm. I think the awards will be spectacular.”
The 2025 ceremony will be held on 5 November at the Museum of Tomorrow in Rio de Janeiro. This will be the first time the prize will be held in Latin America and comes just days before Brazil hosts COP30 in Belém.
What came first, the chicken or the egg? While William has always expressed an interest in taking the Earthshot prize ceremonies to different continents, it was interesting to watch his keenness for South America suddenly grow just after the Sussexes visited Colombia last year. It reminds me of William’s rage that NATO Joint Force Commander General Guglielmo Miglietta brought 1,100 military personnel and their families to support the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf in 2023. Suddenly, William wanted to meet with NATO too, and get some NATO photo-ops! Anyway, there’s no confirmation either way about the Princess of Wales’s attendance at this year’s Earthshot ceremony in Rio, but most people believe she’ll skip out. I hope William and Jason enjoy Rio together.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
