It was a tale of two princes during UN Climate Week on Tuesday, Sept. 24. While Prince Harry has been making the rounds to various charitable organizations in NYC, his brother, Prince William, also gave a speech to the United Nations just hours after Harry made his own in-person appearance.
The Prince of Wales, 42, delivered a speech via video call from the U.K. during an event for The Campaign for Nature, which aims to protect the world’s oceans and natural land.
Like his father, King Charles III, Prince William has long been a champion of saving the environment. In his speech, William called on world leaders to “act urgently” to protect the globe before it’s too late.
“We now have just five years to deliver on our collective promise,” he said, referencing a promise by the campaign to “reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.”
The prince noted that “one million species face extinction” at the moment. “We are living at odds with the natural world – and it is buckling under the pressure of our actions,” he said.
William also called on leaders “to halt the unsustainable production and consumption of natural resources” in order “to keep this planet livable for our children and grandchildren.”
The Prince of Wales’s speech came the same day as the finalists for his Earthshot Prize were announced. In a video posted on social media, William congratulated this year’s class of environmental changemakers from around the globe, including three from the United States.
Each year, the Earthshot Prize awards financial grants to projects that will help save the planet, with this year’s winners—who will be announced during a Nov. 6 ceremony in Cape Town, South Africa—receiving $1.3 million.
Meanwhile, fellow nature lover Prince Harry gave a powerful speech about online safety during the Clinton Global Initiative’s UN event just hours before his brother’s video message on Tuesday.
He also carried out several other in-person visits during UN Climate Week on Monday and Tuesday, including delivering an address about his late mother Princess Diana’s legacy during a reception for The HALO Trust.
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