Prince William says young people are ‘shining lights’ in helping to combat climate crisis
'If every young person educates their family on the environmental impact they are having, that in turn is making a difference,' says Duke of Cambridge
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Your support makes all the difference.Prince William has said that young people could be the ones to make the biggest impact in the fight against the climate crisis.
Speaking to a group of young activists, who had been recognised by the United Nations as "Young Champions of the Earth" by the organisation's Environment Programme, the Duke of Cambridge highlighted the difference their generation could make by simply speaking to their families about environmentalism.
"If every young person educates their family on the environmental impact they are having, that in turn is making a difference, and changing the tide, and creating that momentum," Prince William told the group.
"There's a lot of opportunity in the environmental space. If young people have a tiny bit of that passion – that you have clearly shown a lot of – then there's a really good opportunity to find your feet and find a way and do good in the environmental world."
He continued: "You are the shining lights of that movement and that interest. It allows people to see your path, your journey and go 'do you know what, I want some of that, I can do that, I've got some ideas too."'
Among the activists present on the video call was Nzambi Matee, from Kenya, who creates sustainable building materials and spoke about the difficulty of convincing older generations to take action against the climate crisis.
"If we can convince my grandmother not to use plastic bags, we can do anything," she said.
Another young activist on the call was Lefteris Arapakis, who co-founded Enaleia, an organisation that teaches people about sustainable fishing in Greece.
"I am from a family of fishermen and every year for the last 20 years we get less fish, my family has less and less of everything," he said.
"Personally, I believe that we can make the change, because if we don't believe that, we can just give up. It's our only choice. Optimism is our main weapon against the climate crisis."
Last year, Prince William launched the Earthshot Prize, which will see £50m distributed to various activists with aims to "repair the planet".
Speaking to the young activists, the Duke said they could "easily be in the mix" for the prize.
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