Date: Wednesday, February 11, 2026
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Venue: Building 19, Mosti Auditorium
Reception: 12:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m.
KAUST is honored to welcome Her Royal Highness Princess Esmeralda of Belgium — a prominent voice in global environmental and Indigenous rights advocacy and an accomplished author and documentary filmmaker.
During her lecture, Princess Esmeralda will examine the interconnected crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, highlighting nature-centered solutions that support livelihoods, economic resilience, and equitable global development.
Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss: An Interconnected Global Crisis
Climate change and biodiversity loss are deeply interconnected global crises, disproportionately affecting low income communities and countries in the Global South who have contributed least to environmental degradation. Ecosystem loss undermines nature’s capacity to regulate the climate, threatening livelihoods, economic stability, and social well-being worldwide.
This talk examines the shared drivers of these crises, including land-use change, fossil fuel dependence, and unsustainable economic models. Drawing on terrestrial and marine examples, it highlights how nature-centered strategies can protect ecosystems, create jobs, support livelihoods, and reduce long-term economic risk. The talk concludes with a call for students, educators, citizens, business peoples and policymakers to collaborate across disciplines and regions to advance integrated, equitable, and economically viable solutions.
Short bio
Born in Brussels, HRH Princess Esmeralda of Belgium is the youngest daughter of the late King Leopold III and Princess Lilian. She studied law at Saint Louis University in Brussels and journalism at UCL in Louvain-la-Neuve, before working as a journalist in Paris and Milan.
She has published several books on the history of her family, environmental issues and, more recently, on women who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She has also written and presented a number of television documentaries, including one on Virunga National Park—the oldest national park in Africa and one of the most biologically diverse regions on Earth—highlighting the severe challenges it faces due to armed conflict and the exploitation of underground resources.
Her most recent documentary centers on the Amazon and the ongoing struggle of Indigenous communities to defend their lands and rights. Following in the footsteps of her father, King Leopold III—a pioneer in the field of ecology—Princess Esmeralda serves as President of the Leopold III Fund for Nature’s Exploration and Conservation. She is also a tireless advocate for women’s and Indigenous peoples’ rights, sharing her commitment through widely published writings and lectures around the world.
She is President of Friendship Belgium, an NGO dedicated to education, health, women’s empowerment, sustainable development and climate adaptation in Bangladesh, which was awarded the Earthshot Prize for Climate in 2025 by Prince William. She also serves as President of Honour of Care Belgium and is an ambassador for WWF UK, WWF Belgium and Stop Ecocide International.
Princess Esmeralda is married to Sir Salvador Moncada, a British scientist born in Honduras. They have two children, Alexandra (27) and Leopoldo (24).
Sir Edward Byrne AC FMedSci
President, KAUST
