Prince William releases a sneak peek of his first-ever TED talk addressing global warming

Following the announcement of the well-funded (to the tune of $65 million) climate change and conservation project, Earthshot, it’s been revealed that Prince William has committed to a British royal first: appearing at the virtual conference Countdown to give a TED talk on the subject of global warming. The free conference takes place this Saturday and also features talks by “scientists, activists, entrepreneurs, urban planners, farmers, CEOs, investors, artists, government officials” — plus celebrities like Jaden Smith, Chris Hemsworth, Jane Fonda, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Mark Ruffalo, and Don Cheadle, in case one concerns themselves with that kind of thing. Long-time environmental activist and former U.S. presidential candidate Al Gore will also make an appearance.An excerpt from the Duke of Cambridge’s pre-recorded talk has just been released. In it, he tells viewers that "The shared goals for our generation are clear — together we must protect and restore nature, clean our air, revive our oceans, build a waste-free world and fix our climate. And we must strive to do all of this in a decade,” he says. “If we achieve these goals, by 2030 our lives won’t be worse and we won’t have to sacrifice everything we enjoy. Instead, the way we live will be healthier, cleaner, smarter and better for all of us."[video_embed id='1865800']RELATED: How Prince William is planning to tackle the climate crisis[/video_embed]His message of hope and optimism for the health of our environment echoes the one William shared earlier this week on Instagram when he chatted with David Attenborough about the Earthshot prize, as well as in an interview with the BBC. “I felt very much that there’s a lot of people wanting to do many good things for the environment and what they need is a bit of a catalyst, a bit of hope, a bit of positivity that we can actually fix what’s being presented,” he told the British broadcaster. “And I think that urgency with optimism really creates action. And so The Earthshot Prize is really about harnessing that optimism and that urgency to find solutions to some of the world’s greatest environmental problems.”

 

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? Say hello to the incredible @EarthshotPrize Council! Every year from 2021 until 2030, Prince William, alongside a panel of Prize Council Members covering six continents ? will award The #EarthshotPrize to five winners ? one per Earthshot, whose evidence-based solutions make the most progress towards these goals. Visit the link in our bio to watch the full film.

A post shared by Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@kensingtonroyal) on Oct 8, 2020 at 7:37am PDT

The Prince’s TED Talk will air as part of Countdown, kicking off this Saturday at 11am. Watch it free on the TED YouTube Channel.[video_embed id='2030335']Before you go: Cat attempts daily hilarious attack on mail carrier[/video_embed]