Prince William warns world risks losing 'precious things' to climate change as Cambridges see melting glacier in Pakistan

The Duke of Cambridge has warned that the world risks losing "many of the precious things we care about" if it fails to take action on climate change, as he visits a melting glacier in Pakistan.

The Duke, who travelled to the north of Pakistan on the third day of their tour, said the couple hoped to "use our voice and lend our position" to talk about the environment and climate change.

Praising young people across the world who are "getting very engaged in what's going on", he said: "If we take too long about this we will lose many of the precious things we care about."

He went on to call for “more education, more awareness and political action”.

The Duke and Duchess have spent the day in a remote location in the Hindu Kush mountain range in northern Pakistan, beginning at the Chiatibo Glacier in Broghil National Park.

They were shown how the ice has retreated rapidly in recent years due to global warming in their first opportunity to see a melting glacier in real life.

The Duke said communities “vulnerable to change” needed “more education, more awareness and political action”.

“The young are starting to get engaged in it,” he said, adding that a “positive conversation” around climate change was required.

"Catherine and I felt it was very important to come to Pakistan and see the different range of environments there are and, and really try and get a feel of the country," he said, in an on-camera interview.

"But also to use our voice and lend our position and our visit to kind of talk about issues like climate change, issues about the environment.

"We've seen all around the world now, the young are getting very engaged in what's going on.

"And I think it's fantastic that we can all come together and really have a very good conversation about what we need to do, and that action needs to happen very soon.

"A lot of people rely on this and if we take too long about this we will lose many of the precious things we care about."

His background in geography, which he studied at the University of St Andrews , was also mentioned during the engagement with expert Dr Furrukh Bashir, as his wife teased him about his knowledge.

The Duke said: “Dr Warren, my geography teacher, would be well impressed that I’m back at a glacier after all these years.”

“I’ve been very impressed by William’s geography,” Kate replied.

The Duchess wore a long taupe-coloured skirt and a darker coloured shirt under a leather vest for the visit.

She opted for flat knee-high brown boots suitable for the rocky terrain, and accessoried with gold earrings and a beige pashmina, while William wore a teal shirt and beige chino trousers.

They arrived by helicopter to the remote location in the Chitral district in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province.

Glaciers in the mountain range which joins together in northern Pakistan - the Hindu Kush, Karakoram and the Himalayas - provide water for 1.6 billion people.

There are more than 5,000 glaciers in the area but nearly 70 per cent of them are retreating, according to Dr Bashir, of the Pakistan Meteorological Department.

At a formal welcome to the region as they disembarked from the helicopter which had ferried them from Islamabad, the Duke and Duchess were given shawls and hats of the Chitrali Scouts, just as Princess Diana before them in 1991.

The Duke had spoken of the challenges Pakistan faces from climate change the evening before at a reception beneath Pakistan's national monument in Islamabad.

"Tomorrow we will be seeing some of these impacts first hand and meeting some of the communities adjusting to the new realities and new challenges that climate change has brought to their towns and villages," he said.

"I hope to learn what more we all can do to help prevent and mitigate this impending global catastrophe."

The couple hope to highlight the effect of global warming during the visit, which will also see them travel to a village in a valley of Chitral.

Isolated communities in the area have suffered from flash flooding in recent years as a result of the glaciers melting.

'I'm sorry William didn't dance too'

Later in the day, the Duchess teased her husband about his dancing as they visited the village of Bumburet, in the Chitral valley, north Pakistan.

After watching a group dance in the village square, the Duchess introduced her husband to the dancers.

Wearing a colourful beaded headband she’d been given as a gift by the community, she told the ladies: “This is my husband William, Prince William.

“I’m sorry he didn’t dance too!”

The Duke told the women - who wore traditional headdresses and bright clothing - that he loved their moves.

The whole village had turned out to meet the couple, who were clapped and cheered as they walked up through the narrow streets and into the open square.

William was given a traditional Chitrali hat which he immediately put on and Kate an orange beaded headress with a pink feather, which she put on after checking with her host Shahira Bibi to ensure she had it on correctly.

Special seats had been made of carpet for the royals, where they sat chatting to their local hosts Shahira, Yasir Ali and many school kids.

After the traditional Kalash dancing, sisters Amrina Aneka 17, and Sania Aneka, 13, who have their own YouTube channel sung a local melody.

Chatting to the dancers through her Kalash interpreter Shahira, the Duchess learned how to say "thank you" in Kalasha.

The couple also met a family who had named their children after Princess Diana and her eldest son.

Kate took her own camera with her to the village and took some snaps of Liba and her family in their brightly coloured traditional clothing in the village’s backstreets.

The area was badly affected by catastrophic flooding in 2015, leaving homes damaged, crops destroyed and the animals villager rely for their existence dead.

'He pulled the short straw, did he?'

Later in the day, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge met with survivors of mass flooding caused by glacial melting on the third day of their Pakistan tour.

The couple witnessed a retreating glacier in the Chitral district earlier on Wednesday.

The Duke and Duchess travelled to Bumburet, in central Chitral, to meet with locals whose community was devastated during flooding in 2015.

Buildings and farmland in the valley were destroyed by boulders tumbling down with flood water.

During their visit, they spoke with Diana - a young woman from the local area who was named after William’s mother Diana, Princess of Wales.

Through a translator, it was explained after the duke and duchess had left that Diana’s grandmother travelled to Chitral to meet the princess during her visit in 1991.

“Princess Diana was visiting at around the time she was born, which is why she got named Diana,” the translator said.

“And now her son is now William. Her grandmother went to meet Princess Diana in Chitral, her mum was unable to travel because she was expecting her.”

The young woman is part of an emergency response team of volunteers - n ow funded by UK aid - which prevented loss of life of 2015.

The translator said the group the duke and duchess met regarded the visit by the royals as “a source of pride”.

The translator said: “They generally spoke about where these guys were in 2015 floods, what their reactions were, what they felt, conversations around that.

“They’re glad that people are learning more about this. It’s a source of pride. They can’t forget this day.”

During the discussion, the duke asked the group - through the translator - about their experiences of the 2015 flood.

“Was it quite scary? What kind of time of day did it happen?” William said.“Was it like a big roar in the valley?”

The couple also watched a demonstration by a local search and rescue team on how they transport casualties across a river.

One of the local people had been wrapped up in bandages for the demonstration.

Afterwards, the duke thanked the team for their efforts and made a joke towards the “injured” team member.

The duke said: “Good job guys - he pulled the short straw did he?”

“Hope you get better soon!”