IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Prince William urges Covid spirit in climate fight ahead of Biden summit

The Duke of Cambridge penned an open letter on Thursday alongside singer Shakira, Chinese basketball star Yao Ming, actress Cate Blanchett and a number of other high-profile figures.
Image: Icebergs near Ilulissat, Greenland. Climate change is having a profound effect in Greenland with glaciers and the Greenland ice cap retreating.
Climate change is having a profound effect in Greenland with glaciers and the Greenland ice cap retreating.Ulrik Pedersen / NurPhoto via Getty Images file

LONDON — Britain’s Prince William is urging the world to unite to tackle the climate crisis and channel the same “spirit of invention” that has helped in the fight against Covid-19.

The Duke of Cambridge penned an open letter on Thursday alongside British broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, Queen Rania of Jordan, singer Shakira, Chinese basketball star Yao Ming, actress Cate Blanchett and a number of other high-profile figures.

The letter, from William's Earthshot Prize climate initiative, says global efforts to fight Covid-19 are evidence of what is possible when the world pulls together in the face of a common threat.

Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics

40 world leaders were gathering virtually for a climate summit hosted by President Joe Biden on Thursday, where he will pledge that the U.S. will aim to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

The summit coincides with Earth Day and the five-year anniversary of the signing of the Paris climate accord, a landmark international agreement on reducing climate-harming emissions.

Despite the hardships of the pandemic, the world has learned “what it means to pull together in the face of a truly global crisis,” the letter said.

“These lessons apply not just to pandemics but to the most pressing challenge in human history: stopping the climate emergency,” it added.

The letter continued: "As people around the world queue up for their vaccinations, now is the time to harness that same spirit of invention and give the Earth a shot too."

Prince William has pursued an active environmental agenda as part of his royal duties.

His father, Prince Charles, has done decades of environmental work, as did his grandfather Prince Philip, who passed away earlier this month.

Last year William, the second in line to the British throne, announced the £50-million ($64.54 million) Earthshot prize, a global environmental award to find solutions to the world’s biggest environmental problems over the next ten years.

It’s a prize inspired by the “Moonshot speech” of President John F. Kennedy about the goal of putting a man on the moon. The first recipients of the Earthshot prize will be announced this fall.

Image: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge speaks with service users during a visit to the Garden House part of the Light Project
Prince William's Earthsot Prizes focus on five main areas: protecting and restoring nature, cleaning the air, reviving oceans, building a waste-free world and fixing the climate.Kirsty Wigglesworth / Getty Images file

His appeal for collective climate action came as European scientists issued a stark reminder of the impacts of a warmer world, saying the continent experienced its hottest year on record.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service said that the Arctic suffered a year of extremely high temperatures and lower-than-average snow cover. Arctic sea ice reached its second-lowest minimum extent since 1979, behind the record minimum of 2012, in September.

The European body also said that 2020 was one of the world's three hottest years on record globally, confirming findings released this week by the World Meteorological Organization.

As things stand, the combined pledges of the world’s countries fall far short of the emissions cuts scientists say are needed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels set out by the Paris accord.

But experts hope Biden's summit will advance global climate progress, which has slowed down considerably after former President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris agreement in 2017. Biden has pledged to bring the U.S. back into the international effort on climate and rejoined the Paris accord on the first day of his presidency.

However, relations between the United States and China, the world's two biggest greenhouse gas emitters, remain tense over a number of non-climate issues, including trade, Hong Kong, the treatment of the Uyghur community and the future of Taiwan.

In a rare sign of cooperation this weekend, the two nations committed to joining forces against climate change.

Europe has also made new pledges ahead of this week's climate summit.

The European Union reached a tentative climate deal to put the 27-nation bloc on a path to being “climate neutral” by 2050, with member states and parliament agreeing on binding targets for carbon emissions on Wednesday.