SINGAPORE (AP) 鈥 Prince William arrived Sunday in Singapore for the Earthshot Prize awards, the first to be held in Asia, to support environmental innovators with solutions to battle climate change and save the planet.
Dozens of people waving British flags welcomed him with loud cheers. , 41, shook hands, signed autographs and sportingly took selfies with many of them during a walkabout.
鈥淚t鈥檚 fantastic to be back in Singapore for this year鈥檚 Earthshot Prize ceremony, after eleven years," he said in a statement upon landing. 鈥淪ingapore鈥檚 bold vision to be a leader for environmental innovation sets the standard for others to follow."
鈥淗e has this charm," said Johanes Mario, a Singaporean welcoming William at the airport. 鈥淗e really fights for ... the climate. I believe this is really a good cause for the future of our generation,鈥 he added.
At Singapore鈥檚 Changi Airport and before greeting the crowd, William stood on an upper floor for a stunning view of the 40-meter high Rain Vortex, the world鈥檚 largest indoor waterfall that was illuminated green to mark his arrival. He was also shown a tree planted in his honor in the indoor garden at the foot of the waterfall.
last visited Singapore with his wife Princess Catherine in 2012. Traveling solo this time, William鈥檚 focus is on the Earthshot Prize that he and his Royal Foundation charity launched in 2020 to promote innovative solutions and technologies to combat global warming and mitigate its impact on the environment.
Five winners will be named at an award ceremony on Tuesday. Each will get a million pounds ($1.2 million) to help them scale up their projects for wider global reach. representing six continents were selected from 1,300 nominees this year. The winners are from five categories: nature protection, clean air, ocean revival, waste elimination and climate change.
William will address the star-studded ceremony, to be hosted by English actor Hannah Waddingham. Wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin and celebrities including Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett and actors Lana Condor and Nomzamo Mbatha, are expected to attend the event.
The inaugural ceremony was held in London in 2021, followed by Boston last year. The prize鈥檚 name refers to the late President John F. Kennedy鈥檚 1962 鈥渕oonshot鈥 speech, which challenged Americans to reach the moon by the end of that decade. That inspired the prince and his partners to set a similar goal for finding solutions to pressing environmental problems by 2030.
Singapore鈥檚 Foreign Ministry said William will call on Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and meet Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loon at The Istana palace 鈥 one of Singapore鈥檚 oldest heritage sites 鈥 during his four-day trip.
William, a keen sportsman, will also try his hand at dragon boating, a popular sport in Singapore and many parts of the world. He will also meet Singaporeans to see how local organizations are working to protect and restore the planet.
William鈥檚 office at Kensington Palace has said that Singapore was chosen to host this year鈥檚 awards ceremony because of its role as a 鈥渉ub for innovation鈥 in Southeast Asia.
William will also attend the United for Wildlife summit, featuring representatives of law enforcement agencies, conservation groups and corporations working to combat trade in illegal wildlife products, estimated at $20 billion annually.
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This version of the story has corrected the spelling of Robert Irwin's name.
