The Prince of Wales hopes to engage with China and fast-forward change to its environmental policies by bringing the Earthshot Awards Ceremony to the country.
By hosting the Earthshot environmental awards ceremony in China, the world’s biggest polluter, he hopes to spur President Xi Jinping to take action and help create a greener planet for future generations.
Despite severely strained relations between China and the West, it is a decision that will be marked in contrast to King Charles’s approach.
King Charles has never visited mainland China because of his views on the regime’s treatment of Tibet and its human rights record.
The Times reports, Prince William, is said to believe you “can’t exclude a big chunk of the planet when thinking about fighting for its future”.
At the third annual Earthshot Prize awards for environmental innovation in Singapore, Prince William issued a rallying call for change.
He said: “The last year has been one of great change and even greater challenge. A year in which the effects of the climate crisis have become too visible to be ignored.
“And a year that has left so many feeling defeated, their hope, dwindling.”
The Prince of Wales, 41, insisted the innovators showcased at the awards ceremony offered hope for the future. He added: “I choose to believe that future generations will look back on this decade as the point at which we globally took collective action for our planet.”
The Prince of Wales reportedly discussed his plans for China with the prime minister and president of Singapore last week.
In modern times, Britain currently emits less than one percent of all global emissions each year, which means the country is ranked 68th in global per capita for emissions once adjusted for population. Meanwhile, China has caused 30 percent of all global emissions each year and ranks 42nd per capita emissions.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has said the country will “phase down” coal use from 2026, but researchers at the Tsinghua University in Beijing have said China will need to stop using coal entirely by 2050
During the Earthshot awards ceremony, the five winners of this year’s £1 million awards were named as: Acción Andina, GRST, WildAid Marine Program, S4S Technologies, and Boomitra.
The Prince also outlined some of the achievements of the first two years of Earthshot finalists.
He said: “In the first year alone, we have had a positive impact on 1.5 million people. We’ve protected 1.2 billiion hectares of ocean, upcycled 35,000 tonnes of waste, 40,000 tonnes of CO2 and we’re going to do more – that’s just five finalists from the first year so I’m really excited about this year’s winners and finalists.”
At the glittering awards ceremony hosted at the Theatre at Mediacorp in Singapore, it night featured performances by musical acts including Bastille and OneRepublic and appearances by stars such as Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett.