The Prince of Wales’ 2024 Earthshot Prize awards ceremony will be held in South Africa, raising the prospect of a royal visit to the country.
William is the driving force behind the annual environmental competition and has attended all the presentation events since launching the initiative, with the latest host city announced as Cape Town.
Singapore staged the most recent awards ceremony last November, after prize-giving events were held in Boston in 2022 and London’s Alexandra Palace in 2021.
Kate did not attend the Singapore awards ceremony due to family commitments, but joined her husband for the first two ceremonies.
The princess left hospital last Monday after abdominal surgery but the 42-year-old is not expected to return to official duties until after Easter.
Cape Town will host the event in November and it is thought any royal attendance will not be confirmed until later in the year.
Hannah Jones, the Earthshot Prize’s chief executive, said: “This is the Earthshot decade, a decade in which we must, by 2030, reduce CO2 emissions by over 40%, and protect 30% of nature, oceans and freshwater.
“The nominations to the Earthshot Prize remind us that human ingenuity, grit and determination can turn the seemingly impossible into the new normal.
“We’re delighted to be working with changemakers and partners across Africa to spotlight the incredible innovation emerging across the continent, to convene courageous conversations about scale and finance, and to partner with young creators and filmmakers to tell the story of changemakers across Africa.”
William founded the prize to recognise and scale up ideas to help “repair” the planet, with the five winning finalists each awarded £1 million to develop their ideas.
Awards are presented in five categories, or Earthshots: protect and restore nature; clean our air; revive our oceans; build a waste-free world; and fix our climate.
Earthshot organisers have received almost 2,500 nominations with nearly 400 of those based in Africa, a continent with the lowest CO2 emissions but one of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.