Indian environmental campaigner Sunita Narain had no idea she would be picked out for special mention by Prince William in his speech to a global audience at the Platinum Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace on Saturday night.

During the event, which focused in part on green issues, William said: “I’m so proud that my grandfather and my father have been part of those efforts. And I’m in awe of people like the great Sir David Attenborough, who look at the beauty and power of our Earth and then work to celebrate and preserve it.”

He added: “I think of Rachel Carson from America, Wangari Maathai from Kenya, Sunita Narain from India and so many others.”

During the concert, film footage and electronic wizardry allowed the façade of Buckingham Palace to be shown covered in a forest of greenery.

Speaking from her home in Delhi, Narain, director-general of the Centre for Science and Environment, said: “I was very surprised to see my name mentioned; but am honoured and indeed overwhelmed to be put in the company of the greats. This is a recognition of our work on the imperative of environmental issues in our world and in particular climate justice to be the foundation of future action.”

“India’s key priority remains managing to balance environment and development, which is getting much more urgent and challenging as climate change impacts take a toll of people and their lives,” she added.

William’s commendation, she acknowledged, “will give us the courage to keep working”.

Narain, 61, who was awarded the Padma Shri in 2015, was named in Time Magazine’s list of 100 Most Influential People in 2016. She appeared alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2016 documentary Before The Flood and talked about the impact of climate change on the monsoon in India and how it affects farmers.

She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science by Calcutta University in 2009.

Of the others mentioned by the prince, Rachel Carson was an American biologist whose 1962 book, Silent Spring, became one of the most influential works in the modern environmental movement. By imagining a world without birds, it provided the impetus for tighter control of pesticides, including DDT.

Kenya’s Wangari Muta Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, environmentalist and human rights activist, died in 2011 at the age of 71. A mother of three, she devoted her life to promoting the environment and democracy, and also frequently expressed concern about poverty in Africa.