Prince William to visit Rain Vortex, go dragon boating on SG trip next month

SINGAPORE: Prince William is coming to Singapore in November to attend the Earthshot Prize awards. He will be flying into Singapore commercially on Nov 5 on a four-day trip, and his schedule includes a visit to the world’s largest indoor waterfall and a bit of dragon boating.

The yearly Earthshot Prize, which the eldest son of the United Kingdom’s King Charles III founded in 2020, hands out £1 million (S$1.675 million) to five people who have come up with solutions to tackling global warming. The award ceremony takes place on Nov 7. Learn more about the 15 finalists here.

“The Earth is at a tipping point. We face a stark choice: either we continue as we are and irreparably damage our planet, or we remember our unique power as humans and our continual ability to lead, innovate and problem-solve. People can achieve great things. The next ten years present us with one of our greatest tests – a decade of action to repair the Earth,” Prince William has said.

This year, Singapore was chosen as the venue for the award ceremony because it’s a “hub for innovation” in Southeast Asia, reads a statement from Kensington Palace, adding that Prince William will be meeting with local environmental groups.

“His Royal Highness will spend time meeting Singaporeans and learn about how local organisations are working to protect and restore our planet – from tackling the illegal wildlife trade and protecting the rainforest to incubating and scaling cutting edge innovations,” the statement said.

For the first time, there will also be an “Earthshot Week”, a series of events that brings together the finalists and investors. The prince is also set to participate in these events.

But first, Prince William will visit the world’s tallest indoor waterfall at Changi Airport, the HSBC Rain Vortex. Additionally, “The Prince will have the opportunity to participate in dragon boating, a popular sport in Singapore which brings together locals and expats from across the Commonwealth and beyond,” the statement said. Earthshot Awards has also partnered with YouTube to produce content from the “Green Carpet.”

A spokesperson for Kensington Palace was asked on Oct 23 (Monday) during a press briefing whether it’s contradictory for a campaign to fight climate change to fly in people from all across the globe, given the large carbon footprint this requires. The spokesperson said, “We’re not looking back to the ice age, we’re looking forward to the green age.”

Read related: Prince William and Prince Harry are coming to Singapore, but separately and for different reasons /TISG