Jacinda Ardern Joins Prince William's Earthshot Prize After Resigning as New Zealand Prime Minister

Jacinda Ardern previously spoke on Prince William's behalf at the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit this fall

Jacinda Ardern has a new role with Prince William's Earthshot Prize.

The Prince of Wales' prestigious environmental awards announced Tuesday that the former prime minister of New Zealand, 42, has joined its Board of Trustees.

"It is an honour to welcome @jacindaardern to the @EarthshotPrize team. Her life-long commitment to supporting sustainable and environmental solutions, along with her experience as Prime Minister of New Zealand, will bring a rich infusion of new thinking to our mission," Prince William said in a rare personal tweet, signing off "W."

The news comes three months after Ardern unexpectedly announced at the Labour Party's annual caucus that she was resigning as prime minister after five years in office.

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"I know what this job takes. And I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It's that simple," she said in January.

Ardern added that she would not seek reelection and would not be putting herself forward as a future leader of the Labour Party. The politician said she hoped to spend more time with her partner Clarke Gayford and their daughter Neve, whom they welcomed in 2018.

Ardern was elected prime minister in 2017 at the age of 37, and became the youngest female head of government in the world. She notably led New Zealand through the Christchurch mosque attacks in 2019, the coronavirus pandemic and natural disasters. She resigned on January 25, and was replaced by Chris Hipkins. She remains a member of the New Zealand Parliament.

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The elected official got to know Prince William during her time leading the Commonwealth country, and spoke on his behalf at the inaugural Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit in New York City in September. The Prince of Wales, 41, was unable to attend the event following the death of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth days before.

"As I was preparing my remarks today, I couldn't help reflect on Her late Majesty the Queen. She is someone who was focused, committed and demonstrated what could be achieved when you show fortitude and longevity," Ardern said on stage.

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"We need all of those same characteristics to take on the environmental challenges ahead of us. But we're also at a cross roads in this difficult journey, where it won't just take our global collective will to create the scale of change required to turn around our environmental trajectory, it will also take innovation. The speed we need to move, demands it," she added.

Now, the former prime minister can look forward to being part of the third Earthshot Prize cycle this year. Nominations have closed and finalists are set to be announced in the fall, with winners celebrated at a ceremony later in 2023.

Prince William created the contest in 2020 to promote impactful approaches to the world's most pressing environmental challenges, with plans to award Earthshot Prizes until 2030. Winners receive £1 million ($1.2 million) and support to scale their solutions, focused on reviving and repairing the land, air or sea, to size

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