Climate change gets the royal treatment

The Independent Climate Newsletter

SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE December 02, 2022 View in browser The new Prince and Princess of Wales strived to turn the spotlight back onto the crisis of climate change on Thursday, and away from the latest round of royal scandal which threatened to engulf their first overseas tour since the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Prince William and Kate, Princess of Wales, visit the Harbor Defenses of Boston with Mayor Michelle Wu  and Reverend Mariama White-Hammond on Thursday, December 1, 2022 (Pool/Reuters) From the moment William and Kate touched down in Boston, their three-day visit has been overshadowed by a new racism scandal which erupted at Buckingham Palace, followed by Netflix's slickly-timed drop of Prince Harry and Meghan's Netflix show teaser. The documentary series is likely to include more criticism of the British royal family after Harry and Meghan stepped down from official duties over allegations of racism.   On Thursday, William and Kate soldiered on with the tour which concludes tonight with the Earthshot Prize awards, a competition devised by Prince William to celebrate and scale climate-fighting innovations with millions of dollars in prize money.   The second day featured events focused on how the coastal city of Boston is tackling serious climate-driven threats including rising sea levels, coastal erosion, and worsening storms. The couple started at Greentown Labs in Somerville, the United States' largest clean-tech incubator for start-ups and entrepreneurs, which has created more than 9,000 jobs.   Later they traveled to East Boston to meet with community members of a an area facing issues of environmental justice, and vulnerable to flooding and storm surge. At Boston Harbor, the royals heard from environmental groups about projects to make the city's shoreline more resilient with coastal defenses. The couple were joined by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Reverend Mariama White-Hammond, the city's chief of energy environment and open space, on the third stop of the day which saw them change into warmer outfits as temperatures hovered just above freezing.   One climate expert who met with William and Kate praised their grasp of the issues - and for braving the city's notoriously brutal winter.   "I've lived in Boston for a lot of my life and it was just cold, windy and blustery," Joe Christo, managing director of climate non-profit Stone Living Lab, told The Independent on Thursday. "But Prince William and Princess Kate were hardy, they did a great job. They had a great conversation with us."   Read more QUOTE OF THE WEEK "I think this is less about saving the Earth and more about saving the royal family." 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