Prince William issues rallying cry as he kicks off poignant South Africa trip

Prince William made an off-the-cuff speech to young climate change activists in Cape Town today as he arrived in South Africa for his glitzy Earthshot Prize Awards later this week

Prince William has told young environmentalists you're "going to change the world " as he arrived in Cape Town for the start of his Earthshot Prize awards.

During an off-the-cuff speech for young climate activists during his first event on his South Africa trip, the Prince of Wales told the 120 youngsters from across Africa and Southeast Asia: "The Earthshot Prize believes in you and the reason we set the prize up is for moments like this" after speaking with them about their ideas to tackle climate issues, which included a business making handbags out of old tyres.

He added: "All of you in this room are future change makes, you're the leaders, you're the people going to make the difference going forwards. It's your platform, use it as you need to, take it away, play with it, turn it into something different.

"Because we believe in you and what you're going to do is change the world, I really believe that. This is the generation that are going to do that. And your solutions and your impact are so important and so needed right now. This is not noble, this is business and what you’re doing is creating solutions and a better life for all of us .Keep it going, keep the energy up."

The young people are participating in the inaugural Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme. Throughout the week, the attendees are taking part in immersive masterclasses designed to develop their skills in leadership, storytelling and networking around taking action on climate issues, and opening doors for them to secure future internships and jobs.

The 100 future leaders, aged 18 to 25, were selected from an application pool of nearly 2,000 from 50 of the 54 African nations. An additional 20 youth leaders have been invited from seven Asian countries as a legacy from last year’s Awards in Singapore.

It comes after the Earthshot Prize announced a series of programmes designed to inspire and engage children and young people from the age of five to join the movement helping to fix the planet.

The new initiatives includes today's Climate Youth Leadership Programme the Prince learned about, the Global Climate Accelerator Network (a collective of organisations that help fast track projects focused on green issues, and Project Slingshot, which will launch in partnership with National Geographic, aimed at challenging youngsters aged 13 to 18 to come up with solutions for the most pressing environmental issues.

Before arriving in South Africa earlier today, William told of the solace he found in Africa after the tragic death of his late mother Princess Diana and the the joy he felt when he proposed to his wife Kate when holidaying in Kenya in 2010.

It comes ahead of the fourth instalment of his global environmental awards, which hands out individual prizes of £1million to five winners each year over a decade. William told how he came up with the idea to find planet saving solutions to the world’s most pressing climate matters on a private visit to Namibia and an encounter with a lone, endangered white rhino.

The awards will see a stunning musical performance on the Lion King musical on top of the iconic Table Mountain, with Cape Town landmarks set to light up green for the opening ceremony. William will be joined by 1000 South Africans alongside special guests during the Ceremony at the purpose-built Earthshot Prize Dome in the heart of Cape Town.

Guests will be welcomed on the world’s longest ‘Green Carpet’ event being broadcast live to showcase sustainable fashion and celebrate African design.

Speaking ahead of his visit William said: "Africa has always held a special place in my heart – as somewhere I found comfort as a teenager, where I proposed to my wife and most recently as the founding inspiration behind The Earthshot Prize. It was in Namibia in 2018 that I realised the power of how innovative, positive solutions to environmental problems could drive transformative change for humans and nature."

Based on the President John F Kennedy ‘Moonshot’ concept during the 1960s space race to put man on the moon, William created five ‘Earthshots’ to launch and promote five planet saving ideas each year. The project has gone even further since being created in 2021, supporting dozens of finalists with a Dragon’s Den style support network linking them with investors around the globe to make their ideas come to life.