South Africa: Prince William meets young environmentalists

Britain's Prince William opened Monday (Nov. 04) a visit to South Africa that will focus on the climate crisis and conservation.

The Prince of Wales' first engagement was at Rooftop in Cape Town. He joined more than 100 young environmentalists aged between 18 and 35.

"We've got all of you in this room who are the future change-makers. You're the leaders. You are the people who are going to make the difference going forwards," he told his young audience.

The Earthshot prize is your platform. Use it as you need to, take it away with you, bend it around, play with it, turn it into something different. Use it how you need to to get what you need done. Because we believe in you and what you're going to do is change the world. I really believe that."

The youth leaders came from African and Asian countries. William jumped from group to group and spent a few minutes talking with them.

The centrepiece of William's 4-day trip to Cape Town is the annual Earthshot Prize award which awards 1.2 million US dollars in grants to five organisations for innovative environmental ideas.