Prince Harry and Theresa May have expressed their faith in the Commonwealth’s young people, with the royal telling them “you guys have the answers”.

The prince and the Prime Minister joined young people from across the globe at the start of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) week, when global leaders will converge on London in the coming days for the major summit.

Mrs May acknowledged that young people had helped set part of the agenda for the week, with the environment and youth unemployment due to be discussed.

Harry and the Prime Minister met members of the Commonwealth Youth Council and Youth Taskforce at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in central London, with the prince telling them “you guys have the answers” before he and Mrs May briefly joined their roundtable discussion.

Sat around a table with the young delegates, the politician told them: “It’s great that this week of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is being kicked off by the Youth Forum because, as you say, I wanted to make sure that youth, young people were the priority for this week’s meetings.

“Because if you just look at the figures – I think it’s young people under the age of 30 make up 60% of the Commonwealth population – you are the future of the Commonwealth.

“And it’s important we listen to you, we hear your ideas, hear your areas of concern and you’ve already shaped the agenda. A couple of the issues that you wanted to have discussed here at the heads of government meeting – youth unemployment and the environment (are on the agenda).”

She said there would be discussions about how a young person gets the opportunity for a “good job” and “good start in life” and looking at how oceans can be protected.

Harry was attending in his new role as a Commonwealth Youth Ambassador, which will see him highlight and support the work and aspirations of young people across the Family of Nations.

He will work to create links between young people and youth leaders and encourage them to use Commonwealth platforms to address the social, economic and environmental challenges of their generation.

The prince told the discussion group: “You guys are coming up with the solutions, some solutions of which people who have been around for a little bit longer might not know about, might not see.

“And my role is to support you and to listen to you and do everything I can to make sure your voices are heard and I’m really looking forward to this week.”