A Right Royal Podcast is back with our first-ever live episode, where hosts Andrea Caamano, Emmy Griffiths, and HELLO!’s Royal Editor Emily Nash took to the stage with Extreme Hangout to discuss the Royal Family’s commitment to environmental issues with London Climate Action Week. They were joined by environmentalist and former adviser to King Charles, Tony Juniper.
Tony has co-authored two books with the King, with the pair sharing a passion for protecting the environment over the past few decades. During his chat with the podcast, Tony opened up about the amazing work that Charles has done, but also praised the Princess of Wales thanks to her new take on encouraging royal followers to connect more with nature.
Speaking about the stark changes taking place within our wildlife, Tony pointed out that the dawn chorus at his home in Cambridge has depleted, explaining: “Where I live, there has been a disappearance of songbirds, thrushes, blackbirds, other birds that normally would be part of that wonderful sound you get at first daylight in the springtime this year. Now it’s virtually silent.
“And this is quite troubling, because I think it’s revealing some changes which are really quite profound.”
He added that this change was especially concerning as new generations, including his own grandchildren, have “never known” a world that had the same wildlife as he knew as a child, which is why Catherine’s campaign about the “power of nature” is important.
Speaking about shifting baseline syndrome, which relates to the change in what generations accept as normal ecological conditions, he said: “One very important voice on all of this, in terms of the nature side of it, and the extent to which nature nurtures the human spirit and promotes well-being and health, is the Princess of Wales.
“Following her illness, [she] has been very much talking about the power of nature for healing. And I think this is another way into this, which is not about facts and figures and how many birds have disappeared or how many fewer bees there are, but trying to make this a human thing, which is about how we feel and about our well-being, because everybody cares about that, even if you don’t know the difference between a mistle thrush and a song thrush, which I think is interesting, because she has that power to influence as do other members of the family.”
© WireImageDuring the chat, Tony also opened up about what it was really like to co-author two books with the King, while the podcast’s other guest Pierre Paslier opened up about what it is like to work with Prince William on environmental issues.
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