Commentary

Prince William On Mission To Save Earth With Earthshot Prize

A new PBS one-off special honoring individuals who have taken a leading role in environmental management, restoration and innovation has royal approval from the heir to the British throne, HRH Prince William, Prince of Wales.

The “HRH” is affixed to his name in the PBS press materials in a way I have never noticed before. Previously, I always saw his name as just “Prince William.”

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. HRH (meaning “His Royal Highness”) is on hand to introduce the show “The EarthShot Report,” and then hands the hosting reins over to a fellow Brit, Hannah Waddingham.

She positions herself as an environment activist, but she is also an actress who fans of “Ted Lasso” will likely recognize. 

advertisement

advertisement

She won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2021 for the role of Rebecca Welton in the Apple TV+ series.

On “Earthshot Report,” she adopts an upbeat approach to guiding us around the world to countries where innovative, cutting-edge solutions to the Earth’s woes are underway.

The show takes its title from the annual “Earthshot Prize,” which awards the best of the best in the arena of environmental protection, preservation and conservation.

Prince William founded the awards in 2020, which is why he is on the show. In fact, “Earthshot Report,” airing Wednesday night at 8 Eastern on PBS, will run concurrently with the 2024 Earthshot Prize presentation.

The “2024 Earthshot Prize” presentation is scheduled to stream on PBS.org and the PBS app starting at the same time as “Earthshot Report,” 8 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday.

Originating from Cape Town, South Africa, the awards show is hosted by Billy Porter and features celebrity presenters such as Heidi Klum.

If the TV Blog correctly interprets the PBS news release, one Earthshot Prize award is given every year, but all of the finalists are honored.

“The Prize is centered around five ‘Earthshots’, simple but aspirational goals to ensure our communities, oceans, and ecosystems can thrive together in harmony for generations to come,” says PBS.

The five are (1) “Protect & Restore Nature”; (2) “Clean Our Air”; (3) “Revive Our Oceans”; (4) “Build A Waste-free World’; and (5) “Fix Our Climate.”

The show profiles all of the 2024 finalists in locations ranging from the North Atlantic and the Amazon to Africa.

There, a Kenyan entrepreneur has put together a design and manufacturing company that is selling the next generation of electric motorcycles which he hopes will clear the smoggy skies that afflict many cities in South Africa, some of which are the fastest-growing cities on Earth, according to the show.

In the North Atlantic, we see a sea of offshore wind turbines which are powering more than 100,000 British households, Waddingham says from a small boat cruising among these gargantuan windmills.

In South America, governments are partnering with indigenous people of the rain forest to jointly slow down and stop the destruction of native habitats that are gravely under threat.

The thing I like best about this show (which I previewed on Tuesday) is its optimism. Rather than bemoan the state of the world, the people on this show are intent on doing something about it by using the best tool available to them -- their brains.

Next story loading loading..