Prince William should really have rowed to Brazil – swimming across from the UK may have been a bit too much for the 43-year-old dynast – to give away the next few million dollars of his Earthshot Prize. Instead, he flew 9,000 km on a fossil fuel guzzling jet plane to Rio de Janeiro just to get and give awards that will save the Earth from annihilation. Then he trotted off to Belem, in the Amazon rainforest to deliver a speech at COP30, the annual UN climate jamboree.

Ironically, swathes of Amazon rainforests were cut to make way for new facilities for COP30, including a highway. Needless to add, the climate warriors gathering in salubrious locales every year do not slum it when it comes to accommodation, transportation, venues and food. But their intentions are noble. No wonder the earnest Prince of Wales, who lives in a mansion and will inherit a “kingdom" that is at a historic minusculity, has decided that the Earth will be his oyster.

Corporate donations form the $50 million base of the prince’s annual Earthshot largesse including many from “family philanthropies", foundations of earnest rich people from Jack Ma to Marc Benioff, besides other entities like the Aga Khan Trust, Bezos Earth Fund, DP World, Temasek, Uber and even Standard Chartered Bank. But how many of them put themselves where their money is? Including William himself, who has just moved into an even bigger home?

Even if some of the richest are trying to make their lives ‘planet-friendly’ with expensive alternative options—their private jets, super yachts and island holidays notwithstanding—but can the rest of the world afford to do the same? With ‘clean technology’ and automation potentially decimating jobs and the massive........

© News18