'Troubled' Prince William Reveals What Keeps Him 'Awake at Night'

Oxford Film/ ITC Prince William

Prince William lies awake at night worrying that world leaders and politicians aren’t doing enough to counter climate change.

The royal said that he gets “outraged by the inaction. That is what I get most troubled about, especially as I am in a position of responsibility if you like, or leadership.”

“I feel I can do a lot more if given that ability. So therefore I don't understand why those who have the levers don't. Yeah, and I think that's what really upsets me and keeps me awake at night," he sais.

William was interviewed for the Outrage + Optimism podcast alongside Christiana Figueres, a former UN official who oversaw the delivery of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in 2015. She is also a member of the prince's Earthshot Prize panel.

Kensington Palace Prince William

The dad of three hopes the prize will help bring new optimism to people looking for inspiration and ways to help fight for the natural world over the next 10 years.

“It's about highlighting and raising people's voices and genuine, tangible solutions to some of the hardest environmental problems to face,” he said during the podcast. “And if we can do that and elevate these people's become household names, these solutions become household solutions, then we feel we've brought in an added dimension to the debates.”

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Oxford Film/ ITV Prince William and Kate Middleton in a recent documentary

William is not the only member of his family to work to save the environment. His father Prince Charles has campaigned for years and grandfather Prince Philip was a leading conservationist. And, of course, his brother Prince Harry continues his fight for the endangered species of Africa and has championed young activists like Greta Thunberg.

“It's important to understand the history and the past, to be able to kind of carve out and plan for the future. We are where we are because of what's gone before us," William said.

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“My family is a very visual description of that, I think each generation understands its responsibility to better from the previous generation and to look after and nurture and to be custodians of the world and things like that. My family's naturally had an opinion here to support and to be a part of the environmental debate for a long time, because it's been, you know, at the forefront of a lot of conversations and a lot of issues for many, many years," he added.

Starting November 1, more than 100 selected nominating partners will begin to submit proposals for possible winners of the Earthshot Prize – be they individuals, communities, businesses or organizations. The inaugural five winners of The Earthshot Prize will be announced at an awards ceremony in London in the autumn of 2021, ahead of the COP26 negotiations, where countries will put forward their enhanced contributions to cutting carbon emissions under the Paris Agreement.