Prince William is ‘the best man for the job’ according to Robert Irwin

ROBERT IRWIN ON PRINCE WILLIAM: ‘THE BEST MAN FOR THE JOB’

On Tuesday, I reunited with conservationist Robert Irwin, whom I first met in Cape Town last year.

The son of the late Steve Irwin is an Earthshot Prize ambassador and promotes Prince William’s decade-long mission to find solutions to repair the planet.

The 21-year-old was co-presenting an event for London Climate Action Week, to celebrate the 2024 cohort of finalists, and spoke to me after the event.

He’s spent a lot of time with Prince William over the last few years, and told me: “It’s very encouraging to see someone who grew up in the public eye and decided to dedicate his life to making the world a better place and creating his own legacy – while carrying on a very important legacy.”

Irwin continued: “I see a lot of synergy with that. That means a lot, personally. I just think he is by far the best man for the job because when you talk to him behind the scenes, it’s exactly the same as when you talk to him when you’re on camera, when you’re moderating a discussion with him, his passion is very genuine.”

The Crocodile Hunter’s son stressed the importance of Prince William’s convening power to make a tangible difference, suggesting the time for talk is over.

He told me: “I think the most important thing to remember about London Climate Action Week is action. There are a lot of people around the world who really want to come together. And whenever we come together, it’s great to have that discussion, but it’s wonderful when discussions are directed toward action.

“For us all to acknowledge, and not sugarcoat the fact that we need to work very hard, very fast, the businesses, the individuals, the policymakers in this room, all acknowledge that, and they’re all primed and ready to go.

“The Earthshot Prize gives everyone something to look up to. We need to work across every sector. We need to break down barriers. It doesn’t matter where you sit, politically, geographically, demographically. I mean, wherever you are, wherever you are, we all need to buckle down and make a difference.

“Earthshot is finally a global force that’s really exemplifying that, and Prince William – he has the power to bring together the people that need to come together.”

The Prince of Wales has been passionate about looking after the planet for future generations from a young age, and it always fascinates me when I see him at an event; he speaks from the heart.

At the event at Bloomberg’s London offices, the future King spoke passionately and in detail about what is needed to tackle environmental and climate challenges.

From the auditorium, I watched the Prince tell guests: “A lot of people think the Earthshot Prize is just about climate change, it really isn’t.

“It’s about waste, it’s about plastic pollution, it’s about the health of our oceans, about the air we breathe, it’s all the things that we as human beings care about.”

He added: “And I think I’m really proud of how the solutions have come together and the impact they’ve had.

“We’ve restored 170,000 square kilometres of land and ocean, we’ve sequestered 420,000 tons of CO2, and we’ve benefited 4.4 million people so far.”

Earlier in the day, Prince William had met some of the 2024 finalists and winners in the five categories, or “Earthshots” – Protect and restore nature; Clean our air, Revive our oceans; Build a waste-free world; and Fix our climate.

On Thursday, the Prince continued his mission by urging private investors to “look forward” and give money to businesses trying to fund environmental solutions.

In front of Labour’s Energy Secretary, Ed Milliband, and other world leaders, the Prince also called for “courage” from nations ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference summit, Cop30, taking place in Brazil later this year.

The Prince urged “greater ambition and deeper collaboration” at the event held at St James’s Palace in London.