Earthshot Prize Winner Recalls 'Amazing Conversation' with William, Kate, King Charles and Camilla

Janine Henni
·4 min read
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Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (2nd R) speaks with Earthshot prize winner for Fix our Climate Vaitea Cowan (2nd L) and other finalists and winners at the Glasgow Science Center on the sidelines of the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit on November 2, 2021 in Glasgow, United Kingdom. 2021 sees the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference. The conference will run from 31 October for two weeks, finishing on 12 November. It was meant to take place in 2020 but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Prince William and the royal family are focused on seeing the Earthshot Prize succeed.

Vaitea Cowan, a 2021 Earthshot winner, tells PEOPLE that she was thrilled to spend time with the Prince of Wales, 40, Kate Middleton, King Charles III and Queen Camilla during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, last year.

Cowan won the "Fix Our Climate" prize as co-founder of Enapter, whose compact AEM electrolyzers transform renewable electricity into green hydrogen with exciting efficiency. Along with the rest of the Earthshot Prize's inaugural class of finalists and winners, she was invited to attend the World Leaders Summit at the conference (abbreviated as COP26, as the 26th U.N. Climate Change meeting), last November, where they convened with the senior royals.

"We got to meet Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge at COP26. We had a private reception and we also got to meet the now King Charles, who was there with the Duchess of Cornwall," Cowan told PEOPLE at the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit in New York City on Wednesday.

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (C) and U.S. businessman Michael Bloomberg (2nd R), stand with Earthshot prize winners and finalists (from L) Vidyut Mohan for Clean Air, Vaitea Cowan for Fix our Environment and Sam Teicher for Revive our Oceans at the Glasgow Science Center on the sidelines of the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit on November 2, 2021 in Glasgow, United Kingdom. 2021 sees the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference. The conference will run from 31 October for two weeks, finishing on 12 November. It was meant to take place in 2020 but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Alastair Grant - Pool/Getty

RELATED: Earthshot Prize CEO Says Prince William 'Only Gets More Ambitious' Each Year: 'He Really Cares'

"We got to really understand where their motivation was coming from, and we got to share what we were working on, and how they could keep supporting us," she says. "It was such an amazing conversation to feel how engaged they are in the solutions that we're bringing to the world, and how motivated they are to do everything they can to support us."

The change maker adds that the passion of the new King, Queen and Prince and Princess of Wales to help repair the planet was palpable.

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visit Alexandra Park Sports Hub to meet with Scouts from across the area and learn more about the Scouts' #PromiseToThePlanet campaign on day two of COP26 on November 1, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland. 2021 sees the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference which will run from 31 October for two weeks, finishing on 12 November. It was meant to take place in 2020 but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty

"It's not just an idea that they feel they should do something about," Cowan clarifies of the cause. "It's something that they are personally looking into ­­­­— how can they be active players, how can they be an enabler, or who can they introduce us to. They really took the time to understand 'Okay, what do you need from policy? What do you need from finance? What do you need from market?' They really, really care."

Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, arrive for the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 at SECC on November 1, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland. 2021 sees the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference. The conference will run from 31 October for two weeks, finishing on 12 November. It was meant to take place in 2020 but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Phil Noble - Pool/Getty

RELATED: Prince William Says Queen Elizabeth Would Have Been 'Delighted' by Earthshot Prize Summit in New York

Sam Teicher, an 2021 Earthshot Prize winner in the "Revive Our Oceans" category, tells PEOPLE that the optimism Prince William infused into the environmental prize radiated throughout the Innovation Summit, though he wasn't physically present. The prince did not attend the kickoff to the upcoming Boston conference as initially planned, as the royal family continues to mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth.

Though William wasn't there, Teicher says he's "thinking about the legacy he's creating and his love for the environment that he inherited not just from his father, the King, but also from the Queen, is pretty remarkable."

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (C) reacts as he speaks with Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (R) at a reception for the key members of the Sustainable Markets Initiative and the Winners and Finalists of the first Earthshot Prize Awards at the Clydeside Distillery, on the sidelines of the COP26 summit on November 1, 2021 in Glasgow, United Kingdom. 2021 sees the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference. The conference will run from 31 October for two weeks, finishing on 12 November. It was meant to take place in 2020 but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Daniel Leal-Olivas - Pool / Getty

The Coral Vita co-founder added that he truly admires the future King for launching the Earthshot Prize in the first place. By winning an award, Teicher and his Coral Vita partner Gator Halpern have been able to massively scale their land-based coral farms to help save dying reefs around the world.

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"He was under no obligation to, and clearly feels a sense of duty," Teicher says of William creating the historic contest. "But this is something he believes it and recognizes is that he's in a unique position to create a new dynamic in terms of how we think about the planet, innovation, inspiration."

Most hopeful of all, he adds that the Earthshot mission will only continue to spark the global imagination and ideate change.

"Using it as a physical tool, using his platform and reach and then telling this story of the planet, of the Earthshots, and the solutions get to people, to believe that we can make a difference together is incredible," the winner says of William's work. "It really is an amazing effort to make the world a better place."