Prince William today said he wants to ‘go a step further’ than his family and bring real change to the causes he supports as his visit to Singapore comes to a close.

Speaking to journalists on the last day of his royal tour for the Earthshot Prize awards, the Prince of Wales praised the royal family’s work ‘spotlighting’ causes.

But William said he wanted to do more than just be a patron – and one of the causes he wants to focus on is homelessness, adding that he wanted to help build homes and deliver mental health support, education and employment opportunities.

The Prince’s interview came after he worked up a sweat in the Singapore jungle this morning and heard how young people have been helping conservation.

William, 41, was led around MacRitchie Nature Reserve by the country’s deputy prime minister Lawrence Wong. The pair discussed the environment and nature on show and spoke of Singapore’s vision to be a ‘City in Nature’, sources said. And the prince said he was looking forward to seeing Mr Wong when he next visits the UK.

William, who was at the Earthshot Prize awards ceremony last night, had to change his green shirt for a fresh one halfway around the 40 minute hike due to the heat.

Speaking to print media today, the Prince said: ‘So I think the thing that ties it all together for me is about social leadership.

‘That’s what I’m trying to find my way in, is I care about so many things, and previously the family have been very much spotlighting brilliantly and going round and highlighting lots – I want to go a step further – I want to actually bring change and I want to bring people to the table who can do the change if I can’t do it.

‘And so it’s all about progressing, helping and advancing particular social causes that need to be given more support.

‘I’ve been in the homelessness sector for a long time now, and so rather than just being patron I want to do more, I want to actually build the homes, I want to provide them with the mental support, all the employment and the education they might need.’

The prince added: ‘So it’s all these wraparound services, it’s kind of going deeper and longer, than it is the case of just having loads of causes that you sort of turn up and keep an eye on.

‘It’s more about: how do I show my intent more? How do we do more for you? And give you a better, better future.

‘But you have to remain focused, if you spread yourself too thin you just can’t manage it and you won’t deliver the impact or the change that you really want to happen.’

William was speaking after the third annual Earthshot Prize awards ceremony was held yesterday evening, which recognises solutions to ‘repair’ the planet, and saw five winners handed £1million each to support efforts to scale their innovative climate and environmental solutions.

William said he was ‘still digesting’ after the ceremony and that Earthshot was ‘still on the go, doing loads of meetings’ and added that this year ‘feels bigger than last year, so we’re progressing and we’re building as we go’.

He added: ‘I think that’s the key aim is that every year we’ve got to get bigger and reach more people – the profile is massive so we need to make that bigger and better.

‘And this is the first time we’ve come into Asia, so it’s important the Asian market see us, know what the actual prize is. We’ve predominantly obviously done western with the UK and Boston.

‘So I think it’s all about working out: where do we go next? How do we join the dots?’

He added that the impact investment side is ‘really crucial’ because Earthshot is not ‘just an awards ceremony’.

William said: ‘People think this is philanthropy. They think it’s just a prize ceremony. It’s not, this is so much more.

‘It’s about, how much impact can we achieve by scaling and building up and spotlighting these incredible people with brilliant solutions?

‘We’ve just got to join some more dots between policy regulators, governments’ money, and then you blend it all together and then see the impact from that.’

During the trip to the jungle today, William started off the Tree Top Walk taking in the views of the jungle from a 250 metre-long suspension bridge between two of the park’s highest points, Bukit Peirce and Bukit Kalang.

He carefully walked across the 25 metre-high bridge which gave a bird’s eye view of flora and fauna living in the forest.

The bridge also plays an important role in forest canopy research, providing access to an area that many researchers were not previously able to reach.

His first stop on the trek was to meet four university students who take part in the Youth Stewards for Nature programme.

William told them: ‘Sorry I took a while, been chatting and sweating, and doing a lot of walking.’

The four students explained their conservation work via a slideshow on an iPad.

The prince asked if young people living in Singapore are interested in protecting the environment.

Anusha Shivram, 25, graduate of University of Oxford, MSc Biodiversity, said: ‘Many people from the general public are actively involved.’

She also explained that the team of youth stewards has grown from five to 16.

The stewards, aged between 18 and 25-years-old, can take part in a six-month conservation programme, carrying out up to eight hours a week in the park.

Ms Shivram said afterwards: ‘It is great he is looking at projects we have done in Singapore as it is a strong community and great to see he is visiting.’

At Macaranga Hut, a station for park rangers, he met last year’s Earthshot finalist Dr Isabelle Lackman, co-founder and director of Hutan.

William told the deputy prime minister that Hutan, based in Borneo, Malaysia, was ‘doing fantastic work with orangutans’.

It comes after the Earthshot Prize awards ceremony in Singapore last night, at which William told American pop stars OneRepublic that Prince Louis is a fan after they performed at the event.

The prince met the band backstage after last night’s show at the 1,500-capacity Theatre at Mediacorp and congratulated them on their performance, which opened proceedings.

‘I can’t thank you enough,’ he said. ‘You were amazing. What a way to start the show. That was incredible.’

He told them: ‘Louis, my youngest, loves your songs’ but said Prince George, 10, is still into veteran Australian rockers AC/DC.

On a night when the main topic was the need to take urgent action to combat climate change and other environmental threats to the world, William, 41, told British indie band Bastille their performance of Pompeii – about the disaster that befell the Roman city when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD – to close the show profoundly affected those around him in the audience.

He said the song, performed by the band with the Voices of Singapore choir and singer Freya Ridings, was the perfect way to end proceedings.

‘You guys blew it away. Honestly, it was incredibly moving, it was very powerful and I didn’t want it to stop. And everyone in front of me was crying. I mean I didn’t see behind me but there were tears everywhere. It was so powerful and a great way to finish the show. So thank you so much.’

South African actress Nomzano Mbatha, who presented one of the awards, told William she was in tears at the end. ‘It was incredible,’ she said.

The prince thanked co-hosts, actors Hannah Waddingham and Sterling K Brown. ‘You were brilliant. The chemistry was oozing,’ he said.

Brown said: ‘We had a good time. There were a couple of snafus but we made it through.’

William enthused about the Earthshot finalists, saying they were the real heroes of the evening and he hopes scaling up their businesses will help solve some of the world’s environmental problems.

‘I think we raised the bar this year. Best one yet,’ he told the performers.

Earlier, William congratulated the winners, who stood waiting for him, clutching their awards, which are made from recycled materials, including brass sourced from water pipe fittings, household waste and minute metal elements filtered from wastewater sludge.

The prince, who met the finalists earlier in the day before the results were announced, strolled in, clapping his hands and smiling broadly, and said: ‘Hey, well done. I’m so pleased for you. I tried to keep a straight face seeing you all today. I tried to give nothing away. I hope none of you read me.’

He told them: ‘I’m so proud of all of you. Really well done.’

William, who congratulated them on their speeches, added: ‘I hope you feel the love and support out there because that is what is there. It’s for all the hard work you’ve done. 

‘And many of you have been doing this for a long, long time and have never truly been acknowledged for all the hard work you’ve put in. So take this moment to really take it in. Everyone is grateful and supports all the hard work you’ve done.’

He told them: ‘The Earthshot Prize is nothing without you guys.’

William promised to visit all of the winners, who come from across the globe. ‘I will do. The great thing is I’ve now got loads of opportunities to go and visit all of you. As each year goes on, I’ve now got plenty of friends all around the world to go and visit.’

He added: ‘Bravo, guys. Sorry we didn’t give you your awards on the stage. Everyone was worried you might drop them. They’re safely in your hands now, that’s what counts.’

He asked to have a group photograph taken with the winners.