(LONDON) — This July the Instagram account of the Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, @sussexroyal, is all about saving the planet and making a plea to the royal couple’s followers.
“There is a ticking clock to protect our planet — with climate change, the deterioration of our natural resources, endangerment of sacred wildlife, the impact of plastics and microplastics, and fossil fuel emissions, we are jeopardizing this beautiful place we call home – for ourselves and for future generations. Let’s save it. Let’s do our part,” the post said.
Every month the account changes to support a cause important to Harry and Meghan. Monday’s post explained “for the month of July we turn our attention to the environment.”
Harry and Meghan have highlighted 15 charities and are encouraging their supporters to visit these accounts “for more details on how you can make great change and help save our planet.”
“We can only do this together, and every little bit helps,” according to the post.
Among the charities listed are Rhino Conservation Botswana, African Parks Network and Elephants Without Borders — all charities that focus on wildlife conservation in Africa. The royal couple will be visiting Africa this fall and conservation is high on the list of causes they will be championing. Prince Harry is patron of Rhino Conservation Botswana and President of the African Parks Network.
Protecting the environment is a cause that is also dear to Prince Harry’s father, the Prince of Wales, who has been calling for better environmental awareness since the 1980s. The Duke of Sussex echoed his father’s words in a statement he gave on this latest Instagram post: “Environmental damage has been treated as a necessary by-product of economic growth. So deeply ingrained is this thinking that it has been considered part of the natural order that humankind’s development comes at the expense of our planet. Only now are we starting to notice and understand the damage that we’ve been causing. With nearly 7.7 billion people inhabiting this Earth, every choice, every footprint, every action makes a difference.”
Other charities, or individuals, active in the fight against climate change listed by @sussexroyal this month are National Geographic, the World Wildlife Fund (of which Prince Harry’s grandfather Prince Philip was president for many years), Mike Bloomberg, a big donor to environmental protection campaigns, Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenager who has led worldwide student strikes calling for action and the Jane Goodall Institute, founded by the world famous anthropologist.
Copyright © 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.