Prince Charles, Jony Ive discuss Terra Carta's sustainability push

The UK's Prince Charles has talked about his collaboration with former Apple design chief Jony Ive on the "Terra Carta," praising Ive for "brilliantly" encapsulating the nature theme of the seal.

Prince Charles' Terra Carta environmental initiative revealed its official seal in November, one that was made in collaboration with Ive's LoveFrom design studio. In a conversation about the Terra Carta Design Lab in November, Charles complimented Ive's studio on its work so far.

The Terra Carta Seal is intended as a paper and digital award bestowed to companies that are leading efforts to create sustainable markets. It's part of the Terra Carta charter that aims to create a sustainable future through the participation of private corporations.

Speaking at Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum during COP26, Prince Charles and Ive were on stake to talk about Terra Carta, the video from Wallpaper reveals.

"What really has driven [the Terra Carta] is the fact that finally, after some 40 years of trying to raise awareness about all these issues, and trying to bring a whole series of people together, particularly from the business sector to get them to understand more and more about the need for sustainability, one of the things we could never really do was get the financial services sector to take it seriously," said the UK royal.

On being told by Prince Charles about the aims of the initiative, Ive said "When His Royal Highness was describing the Terra Carta, I was hugely struck by the fact that in spite of the profound nature of the challenges that it was trying to address, the Terra Carta wasn't characterized by fear or terror, there was a rather beautiful optimism."

Expressing a need to reconnect with nature, Prince Charles said it had to be "the center of the whole operation and [Jony Ive's] design, I thought, brilliantly helped to encapsulate that."

Unveiled in November, the Terra Carta seal includes a round design with nature-based imagery, complete with intertwining plantlife producing seven overlapping circles. A crown features at the top, along with the text "For the Harmony of Nature, People, and Planet."

A total of 45 companies were granted the award in its first week of availability, including Amazon, Apple chip partner TSMC, and IBM.

When asked for advice for the next generation, Ive said "Very often overlooked is how we actually begin the process, how we understand the problem, how we frame the problem, and if we don't, we miss enormous opportunities before we really start. I think critical practice is that of being curious and inquisitive. But with real discipline and with real intention."

Aside from the seal, Prince Charles and Ive launched a design competition in July, giving students from London's Royal College of Art the chance to work on a variety of solutions to create a sustainable future, with successful ideas granted financial backing.