Donnie Yen right where he belongs at save-the-planet awards

Hong Kong actor Donnie Yen Ji-dan walked the green carpet in Singapore for British Prince William’s third Earthshot Prize awards ceremony, where five winners – ranging from solar-powered dryers to combat food waste to processors for cleaner electric car batteries – were unveiled.

Yen, who was an awards presenter, felt right at home. He said he always does his part to save the planet, like bringing his own cutlery and lunchbox to his film sets and making sure the sets remain clean.

“I tell everybody on my film site: ‘Pick up your garbage, be good to the Earth.’ That’s what I do every day… [My colleagues] try to avoid me, but I tell them this is the right thing to do,” Yen said.

His wife, Cissy Wang, who accompanied him to the ceremony, said their whole family is environmental-friendly.

“In our household, we are very strict when it comes to the environment,” Wang said. “I compost my own food. If we go to a restaurant and we have leftovers, I bring my own boxes. For grocery shopping, I try to always bring a bag,” she said.

The Earthshot Prize was launched in 2020 by Prince William and British broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough. Yen said he was invited by Prince William to the ceremony to present an award.

Prince William thanked him for taking time to do so despite his busy schedule, and kidded that he wanted to learn some martial arts moves from Yen like in the movie John Wick 4.

Yen told the prince: “Like a good old jazz player, I had literally done the fight choreography sequences on the day of the shoot.”

Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, as well as Singaporean officials – including environment minister Grace Fu Hai Yien and foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan – also attended the ceremony.

Winners are rewarded with £1 million (HK$9.58 million) for their contributions to environmental protection.

This year’s winners are start-up company GRST from Hong Kong, Accion Andina from Peru, S4S Technologies from India, Boomitra and the WildAid Marine Program.

The five categories of the prize – inspired by the UN Sustainable Development Goals – are “restoration and protection of nature,” “air cleanliness,” “ocean revival,” “waste-free living” and “climate action.”