Prince of Wales to lead global call to save world's oceans

Telegraph

5 hours ago

The Prince of Wales is to lead an urgent global call to save the world's oceans 'while we still have the chance'.
Prince William will on Sunday travel to Monaco to address a forum attended by Emmanuel Macron, president of France, Rodrigo Chaves Robles, president of Costa Rica, and Prince Albert of Monaco, where he will issue a personal plea to prevent further catastrophic decline of the seas.
He will tell the Blue Economy and Finance Forum on World Oceans Day: 'Halfway through this decisive decade, I call on all of you to think big in your actions.
'Let us act together with urgency and optimism while we still have the chance.'
The Prince has joined forces with Sir David Attenborough in an effort to use their combined stature to push the message home.
Both have come to recognise that in order to stabilise the climate, the focus must be on the world's delicate marine ecosystems.
A Kensington Palace spokesman said: 'There should be no doubt that this speech is the Prince of Wales calling for action to save our oceans now.
'The world is watching. This is him using his platform to call for more to be done sooner rather than later.'
Meanwhile, Sir David told Prince William that the damage humans have caused to the ocean floor is 'unspeakably awful'.
The broadcaster said that if anything remotely like it happened on land, 'everybody would be up in arms'.
The pair were recorded in conversation to mark the wider release of Sir David's new film, Ocean, which is available on National Geographic and Disney+ from Saturday June 8.
The film was released in cinemas last month, to coincide with Sir David's 99th birthday, and has won plaudits for its hard-hitting message – one he has described as the most important he has ever shared.
'After almost 100 years on the planet, I now understand the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea,' he said.
And on saving the world's delicate marine ecosystems, he added: 'We are almost out of time.'
Prince William has increasingly taken up the broadcaster's mantle in promoting the urgent need to protect the planet.
He revealed last month that he was hoping to emulate Sir David with his new six-part docu-series, Guardians, by inspiring a connection with the natural world.
The latest episode, released on BBC Earth on Friday, focused on conservation efforts in Mexico's Sea of Cortez, where the Prince warned that 'warming waters, vanishing species, and the sheer scale of illegal fishing have pushed this ecosystem to the brink'.
It was Sir David who inspired the Prince to launch the Earthshot Prize, which is midway through its mission to give £50 million over a decade to inventors and pioneers trying to save the planet.
One of the five award categories is Revive Our Oceans but despite its necessity, it accounts for only 9 per cent of all nominations, a statistic that has only served to fuel the Prince's determination to highlight his concerns.
He fears the world's oceans, despite comprising 70 per cent of the Earth's surface, are taken for granted, despite being essential to life.
Despite a global target to protect 30 per cent of land and sea by 2030, just 3 per cent of the ocean has so far been protected.
The Prince and Sir David sat down together at the Royal Festival Hall in early May ahead of a matinee screening of Ocean for school children, held to coincide with the broadcaster's 99th birthday.
Asked by the Prince of Wales about the current state of the oceans, Sir David said: 'The awful thing is that it's hidden from you and from me and most people. The thing I am appalled by is what we have done to the deep ocean floor – just unspeakably awful. Anything remotely like it on land, everybody would be up in arms.
'If this film does anything, if it just shifts public awareness it will be very, very important. And I can only hope that people who see it recognise that something must be done before we destroy this great treasure.'
Sir David said it was 'heartening' to be able to bring the images to people in their front rooms.
The pair struck an optimistic note as they spoke about the ocean discoveries yet to be made.
'We're in a situation now where in fact it's possible to go into places where it's nowhere like you have ever been before,' Sir David said. 'It's a huge privilege and excitement.'
Prince William said: 'It's a really optimistic, exciting moment for the next generation. To be able to be bigger explorers and find more data and more research down there.
'The next 50 years will be incredibly exciting.'
Sir David also tried one of his first diving helmets, recalling a time he attempted to dive in a faulty mask and water started flooding into it, rising up his face.
The Prince asked how it felt to be one of the first to report back to land about the underwater world.
'Once [Jacques] Cousteau invented the aqua lung and the facemask, that was the moment that you moved into a new world,' Sir David said.