Prince William’s Rio Visit Details Revealed Ahead of Earthshot Prize Awards

Prince William is ready for Rio!

The Prince of Wales, 43, is bringing his Earthshot Prize awards to Rio de Janeiro’s Museum of Tomorrow on Nov. 5 for its fifth iteration. But before then, he’ll be visiting some of the Brazilian city’s world-famous sites, indulge in some of its famous sports and highlight some of the action being undertaken to protect nature.

Later in the week, William ventures out to see some of the rich biodiversity around the city and the efforts being done by indigenous people and conservationists to preserve nature and reverse harmful damage.

His Earthshot mission is halfway through its decade of action and is all about inspiring and raising up those who have the ideas to halt some of the Earth’s challenges. At this midway point, the many finalists have raised $500 million from investment and philanthropy to fund and grow their projects and protected areas of land and sea equivalent to the size of Italy, France and Greece combined.

In Brazil, William will spotlight “the next generation of climate leaders and on why now, more than ever, action is needed to protect and restore the planet,” a spokesman for the Prince of Wales says.

“It’s an exciting time to be in Brazil as across Latin America, environmental leaders are driving bold, innovative approaches to protect and restore vital ecosystems like the Amazon, while creating local jobs and economic opportunities.”

Prince William will also participate in a summit of his United for Wildlife consortium, which works to tackle the illegal trade in wildlife parts and endangered species.

Wednesday, Nov. 5, is all about celebrating the 15 finalists of his Earthshot Prize at the Museum of Tomorrow. There, a star-studded show, featuring Kylie Minogue and Shawn Mendes, will herald the latest winners of his five prizes that reward innovative and groundbreaking ideas to tackle environmental challenges. Earthshot is halfway through the decade that William set aside to find solutions to the planet’s issues.

The CEO of the Earthshot Prize, Jason Knauf, says, “With its energy, its people and its iconic landscapes, it is the perfect place to celebrate amazing environmental innovation and host our biggest and best Earthshot ever.”

Rio follows the inaugural awards in London in 2021, followed by events in Boston, Singapore and last year’s ceremony in Cape Town. It also marks the first time Prince William has been to Latin America on official business.

Five prizes worth $1.3 million each will be handed out to the winning innovators on Nov. 5. When he unveiled the finalists in October, William spoke about feeling encouraged by “their energy and momentum.”

He added, “For me, it is that urgent optimism that has been at the heart of this Prize from the beginning. And it feels unstoppable.”

Brazil is an important place to host the occasion. It is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world and hosts half of the crucially important ecosystem of the Amazon rainforest. But it is also home to what Prince William’s office calls “innovators and indigenous communities who are at the forefront” of the battle to counter some of the world’s pressing issues. It is those that he will highlight in the days to come.

The Prince, who will arrive via commercial flight, is mindful of the questions about international travel in light of his concern for the planet. There will be hundreds of people jetting into Rio and wider Brazil in the coming days, as world leaders and environmentalists and business executives congregate not just for Earthshot but the UN climate conference COP30. But Prince William is not saying people should not be flying or traveling by car.

A spokesman for the Prince says, “The Prince created the Earthshot Prize to find solutions that would accelerate and restore the future of the planet. We are not looking back to the ice age but looking forward to the green age. The genesis of what we are building never has, and never will be, to not get into planes and not to get into cars.”

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CEO of the Earthshot Prize Jason Knauf said, “This is a defining chapter for us, as we celebrate the incredible progress made at the halfway point of the Earthshot Decade and look ahead with big ambition. It was founded because this decade is critical – it is a window in which we still have time to act and because Prince William believed that it can be a great human success story. That, with urgency and optimism, we can act to make these years count.”

Knauf spoke about the pride in the progress so far. “In just five years, the momentum we’ve built is nothing short of extraordinary.” He said the finalists have raised over $500m in funding from investment and philanthropy and protected and restored over 1 million hectares of land and sea.

Then, on Nov. 6, the prince is to represent his father, King Charles, by talking with world leaders gathering for the UN climate conference in Belém.