The Prince of Wales has criticised big businesses for “falling short” and lacking “courage” in their attempts to tackle climate change.
Prince William, who spent five days last week in Brazil for his Earthshot prize awards and the Cop30 climate conference, is deeply frustrated by the private sector’s apathy on the environment.
He called on the business community to “step up to the plate”, and criticised the way that “many” businesses were “still reluctant to get involved”.
William, a lifelong environmentalist like the King, also raised his concerns with the prime minister, as well as holding talks on the issue last week in Brazil with President Lula and Ed Miliband, the energy secretary.
A royal source said: “During his visit to Brazil, the Prince of Wales raised his concern about the lack of meaningful support from global businesses in tackling the climate crisis when he met with the prime minister and the secretary of state for energy security and net zero.
“He believes that major companies are still not doing nearly enough. He wants to see bold leadership in the private sector and, honestly, many businesses are still reluctant to get involved. Even when some are making genuine progress, they’re rarely talking about it.
“There are positives, companies such as Ikea, Uber and [the food giant] Compass Group are showing real leadership and deserve credit, investing in Earthshot prize finalists. But far too many others are still falling short and it’s time for more of them to step up to the plate.”
Ed Miliband, the environment secretary, was also among the cohort attending the climate conference
ANDREW PARSONS/KENSINGTON PALACE
Now in its fifth year, the Earthshot prize, founded by William, will award £50 million over a decade to 50 initiatives providing solutions to some of the world’s biggest environmental challenges.
Both Sir Keir Starmer and Miliband attended the Earthshot prize awards ceremony in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday and accompanied the prince to Cop30 in Belem.
The prince has developed a “warm relationship” with Starmer, the first prime minister to attend William’s environmental awards since they began in 2021, and urged the government to encourage more action from the private sector on green issues.
Prince William and the prime minister have built on their strong relationship during their time in Belem
BEN STANSALL/PA
During an engagement in Rio last week with a group of young climate activists being supported by the Earthshot prize, William, 43, spoke about the need to find more leadership from business leaders, who he warned were waiting for others to significantly invest in the sustainability sector.
He said: “We need a bit more courage in the system. Where are the CEOs taking the lead with this? There is a nervousness. We have to get the confidence, we have to get the passion. Without that, we’re all wobbling around a little bit.”
Indigenous peoples from across Brazil met William in the botanical park at Museu Emilio Goeldi
VICTORIA JONES/SHUTTERSTOCK
At another event in Rio showcasing some of the prize’s success stories, he said: “I’d like it [the prize] to be bigger, and in many points this is a rallying call for those businesses and those out there who may not have had contact with the Earthshot prize before and may be interested, they need to come and meet these people. Because once you’ve come and met them and heard them you’ll realise this is not philanthropic, it’s not a ‘nice thing to have’.
“They are commercial products that are going to make life better, that are going to create jobs, they are going to do incredible things for the planet, and they are going to make our lives better and healthier.”
A British company called Matter, one of this year’s finalists, which produces washing-machine filters that remove microplastics from wastewater, has just secured a multimillion-pound deal with Ikea to scale up its production globally.
Last week, William told its founder, Adam Root, that he plans to install the filters in all the washing machines across the royal households.
Adam Root
AARON CHOWN/GETTY IMAGES
Root, 35, from Saffron Walden, Essex, first developed the £199 filter on his mother-in-law’s dining table in Essex in 2017 with help from a £250 grant from the Prince’s Trust charity, now the King’s Trust, which supports young people to develop business ideas.
Uber has also formed a partnership with the 2024 finalist, Enso, to roll out its low-emission, energy-efficient tyres across the UK and America. Uber has pledged that all journeys will take place in zero-emission vehicles by 2040.
William plans to take next year’s Earthshot prize to India, in a sign of his determination to engage with the world’s biggest polluters. India, the most populous nation in the world with more than 1.4 billion people, is the world’s third-biggest polluter after China and America.
The country is responsible for about 8 per cent of global carbon emissions, with coal as its primary power source, but has set a goal of reducing emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 and for the economy to be net zero by 2070. Neither Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, nor President Xi of China attended the Cop30 leaders’ conference last week.
A royal source said: “This is about bringing people on the journey. We always said we’d like to take Earthshot to every corner of the planet. There are so many interesting things happening in India in the sector and the prince is looking forward to seeing it.”
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The Sunday Times has also revealed that William wants to take the prize to China in the next five years, despite the UK’s strained relations with the world’s biggest polluter, in marked contrast to his father’s approach. The King has never visited mainland China because of his views on the regime’s treatment of Tibet and its human rights record.
William, however, is said to believe that you “can’t exclude a big chunk of the planet when thinking about fighting for its future”. Sources close to William said he had a “renewed sense of purpose” about taking the prize to China.
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