The Prince of Wales was presented with the keys to Rio de Janeiro as he began a five-day visit to Brazil.
Prince William was on the city’s Sugarloaf Mountain, with a bird’s eye view of the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue, as he received the honour from the city’s mayor, Eduardo Paes.
The prince had travelled to the top of the mountain by cable car, to the surprise of several groups of tourists queuing to travel up the mountain. As he came down again, he posed for selfies with several of the people who had waited to catch a glimpse of him.
He is visiting Brazil for the first time with two key environmental missions. On Wednesday, he is presenting the Earthshot Prize, the annual award from the charity he set up himself.
The following day, he will travel to Belem, in the Amazon rainforest, where he is scheduled to deliver a speech as part of COP30, the annual UN climate meeting where governments discuss how to limit and prepare for further climate change.
It is the first time that Prince William has travelled internationally for a COP summit, as his father, King Charles, has previously led the way for the royals, making several keynote speeches to world leaders over the years.
Prince William did attend, along with his father, when it was held in Glasgow 2021, two weeks after the first Earthshot Prize.
The prize annually awards a £1m grant in five different categories for projects that aim to repair the world’s climate, and Prince William has committed himself to it for 10 years, with Rio marking a halfway point for the venture.
This year’s shortlist includes an upcycled skyscraper in Sydney, the entire island of Barbados and a Bristol-based company that filters microplastics from washing machines.
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