Prince William To Promote Climate Initiatives In His First International Trip Of 2022

Among the royal family's numerous causes, environmental conservation and clean energy have been at the top of the list. After creating a prize for innovations in conservation, Prince William is set to promote climate initiatives in his first international trip of 2022. Following the economic impacts of Brexit, Britain is seeking new trade ties across the globe — including opportunities in the United Arab Emirates. During his February visit to Dubai, William plans to explore opportunities in clean energy. 

The upcoming trip is at the request of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and will be William's first official trip to the UAE, per Daily Mail. It also marks his first major oversees visit since taking a tour of the Middle East in 2019. Royal travel has been significantly slowed by the ongoing pandemic, and this time abroad offers William an opportunity to strengthen ties with the nations his country hopes to trade with. 

Back in September, the government of Dubai made a pledge to invest £10 billion in British clean energy, infrastructure, technology and life sciences, expanding its 'sovereign investment partnership' with the UK government, says Reuters, and William is headed there to discuss the investments and seek more information on upcoming and ongoing efforts to preserve the Gulf state's unique flora and fauna.

Prince William's focus on clean energy and conservation has been at the forefront of the royal family's outreach for some time now. In 2020, he held his inaugural Earthshot Prize designed to "incentivize change and help to repair our planet over the next ten years," per the Earthshot website. Through Earthshot, five prizes of £1 million "will be awarded each year for the next ten years, providing at least 50 solutions to the world's greatest environmental problems by 2030." The prizes are awarded to groups or individuals presenting solutions to in cleaning the air, protecting and restoring nature, reviving the oceans, tackling waste, and overall fixing the climate. 

The awards become quite the affair, garnering support from a medley of celebrities and submissions from across the globe. While in Dubai, William will be in a position to highlight the Earthshot Prize and share opportunities with those working in relevant fields. Additionally, he will likely discuss his other initiative, United for Wildlife, which aims to reduce illegal wildlife trade, per Daily Mail. 

There's surely a lot on the agenda for such a brief trip, but William is making the most of rare international travel during the pandemic. Here's hoping all goes according to plan.