Good evening everyone. It’s so wonderful to be here with you on this incredible night, and great to see Buckingham Palace turned into an IMAX screen!
As I watch those extraordinary images, it does make me think of all the monumental and pioneering work of so many visionary environmentalists that have gone before.
I’m so proud that my grandfather and my father have been part of those efforts. And I’m in awe of people like the great Sir David Attenborough, who look at the beauty and power of our Earth and then work to celebrate and preserve it.
I think of Rachel Carson from America, Wangari Maathai from Kenya, Sunita Narain from India and so many others.
While no one’s grandmother thanks them for talking about their age, my own grandmother has been alive for nearly a century. In that time, mankind has benefited from unimaginable technological developments and scientific breakthroughs.
And although those breakthroughs have increased our awareness of the impact humans have on our world, our planet has become more fragile.
Today, in 2022, as the Queen celebrates her Platinum Jubilee, the pressing need to protect and restore our planet has never been more urgent.
But like her, I am an optimist. Decades of making the case for taking better care of our world has meant that environmental issues are now at the top of the global agenda.
More and more businesses and politicians are answering the call. And—perhaps most inspiringly—this cause is now being spearheaded by an amazing…
