The future king has launched a new £50million Earthshot Prize, which will award five £1-million-pound prizes each year for the next 10 years. The aim is help protect and restore nature, cleaner air, revive oceans, waste-reduction and climate change. They will be picked by a judging panel made up of an impressive lineup including naturalist David Attenborough, Queen Rania of Jordan, Australian actor Cate Blanchett, Colombian singer Shakira and former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres.
William’s venture to tackle the climate crisis also attracted praise from former US president Barack Obama.
He tweeted: “It’s going to take a lot of big-thinking and innovation to save the one planet we’ve got—and that’s why @KensingtonRoyal’s leadership on climate change can make a real difference.”
But some Twitter users were unimpressed by the former US President’s support for the project and criticised William and Kate’s previous environmental efforts.
One Meghan and Harry fan tweeted a picture claiming the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spent £8million of taxpayers’ money on getting home using a helicopter.
Barack Obama has come under fire for his praise for Prince William (Image: PA)
Another person added: “Protecting jobs should be as high on the list as protecting the environment. Just saying.”
A third user called Royal Sussex Family said: “William, respect the environment…”
This was followed by a number of headlines claiming Kate and William built a £15,000 hedge to stop tourists looking in.
Another headline added Prince William had come under fire by animal rights activists PETA for taking his son Prince George to watch him on a grouse shoot at Balmoral.
READ MORE: Harry’s ‘swipe at William’s Earthshot Prize’ uncovered
And another Meghan and Harry fan named Lucy Lu simply responses to Mr Obama’s post with: “Taxpayers’ money!”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex came under fire for being “hypocrites” when talking about helping the environment last year.
Prince Harry even admitted that “no one’s perfect” after the couple flew on four private jets in just 11 days during the summer.
However, other fans were quick to praise the former US President for his words of support.
One fan said: “Love this backing! One king to another.”
Another person tweeted: “Thank you Mr President. All hands on deck to save our planet.
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Prince William launched the £50million Earthshot prize (Image: PA)
“We better hurry because it’s literally melting and burning.
“Great initiative by the Duke of Cambridge and his team! May the best planet saving team win.”
Former Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton added her support for the project too after warning time is running out to “protect the planet”.
She tweeted: “We don’t have any time to lose when it comes to protecting our planet for future generations.
Kate Middleton and Prince William tied the knot in 2011 (Image: EXPRESS)
“Send your biggest, boldest ideas to @kensingtonroyal and @earthshotprize.”
William admitted he wants to “hand the planet in a better state than we found it” to his children and grandchildren.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “These are grave times for the environment.
“But I do believe with human ingenuity, and I do believe with younger generations speaking up like they are now, that they will not stand for this lack of hope, with this lack of idea that we can’t fix some of these big solutions.”
Meghan and Harry also came under fire for using private jets (Image: PA)
Mr Attenborough said he wanted to get involved because the “writing is on the wall” for the environment.
He said: “Suddenly we actually see the writing on the wall. Suddenly we can actually see coral reef dying. Suddenly we can see that forests are disappearing.
“Suddenly there are real dangers that there may be a tipping point in which the ice caps of the North Pole begin to melt – which it’s doing already.
“People can see it’s happening and it’s a matter of great urgency now.”
