The spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, the Aga Khan is the forty-ninth in a hereditary line extending back to the Prophet Muhammad. I don’t believe there many of us in this room who could trace, in any direction, anything like that kind of heritage.

The Aga Khan Deve­lopment Net­work is proud to be a Founding Partner of the Earthshot Prize. It is our collective responsibility to be good stewards of the planet. At this critical moment, we must all nurture and invest in solutions that can repair our planet before it is too late

I am strongly in favour of the "people-centred" approach for two reasons. Firstly, the tradition of self-help has strong cultural roots in much of the Third World where the voluntary movement is becoming increasingly vibrant. Secondly, and more importantly, the approach - in my experience - works!