The Duke Of Cambridge Revealed What Keeps Him Up At Night
On Friday the Duke of Cambridge made an appearance on the Outrage +Optimism podcast, where he openly talked about what keeps him awake at night, as well as about his global environmental project The Earthshot Prize.
On the podcast, Prince William said he gets “outraged by the inaction” on climate change, adding: “That’s probably a bit of a cliche but that is what I get most troubled about. Especially as I’m in a position of responsibility if you like, or leadership. I feel I can do a lot more if given that ability.
“So therefore, I don’t understand why those who have the levers, don’t. I think that’s what really upsets me and keeps me awake at night.”
He also mentioned how he felt while growing up, saying that he did “feel that tackling things negatively was the way to go forwards…but actually it doesn’t work.”
Even though he thinks that people should call out the things that are wrong, he also thinks that a positive approach and optimism could prove to be more successful and yield better results.
“The message when I went to China and talked to the Chinese government about trying to tackle the illegal wildlife trade was very much a case of, how about you guys being the global leaders in conservation? You can take on that mantle and you can really drive it forwards,” he said.
“And it’s a much easier conversation to have with someone and it’s not about getting out of a hard conversation – I’m very happy to have hard conversations – but an easy conversation where they can see what you’re getting at, they understand the consequences.
“At the end of the day, the vast majority of people, if they are presented with the science and the facts, they want to do the right thing. No one wants to do the wrong thing.
“And I think you have got to give people the opportunity to see the potential and the way forwards.”
The Prince’s most recent project was launched earlier this month, the Earthshot Prize, costing around 50 million pounds, whose goal is to recognize solutions, ideas and technologies that “repair the planet”.
The Outrage +Optimism podcasts air weekly, with it attracting all kinds of guests, from Swedish activist Greta Thunberg to US politician John Kerry. The podcast is co-hosted by ex-UN climate chief Christiana Figueres, political strategist Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson, the founder of environmental charity CDP.
Talking about his family’s long-standing environmental activism, starting with his grandfather Prince Philip and his father Prince Charles, both having done a lot for the cause in their own right, Prince William said: “I think my family has naturally had an opportunity here to support and to be a part of the environmental debate for a long time because it’s been at the forefront of a lot of conversations and a lot of issues for many, many years and people have talked about it for a long, long time.
“But we need the action now and that’s what these next ten years is about.”