Prince William announces 15 Finalists for inaugural year of the £50 million Earthshot Prize
17.9.2021 20:01:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
The Earthshot Prize announces today its first-ever shortlist of 15 Finalists, each with a chance of winning £1million to support their innovative environmental solutions to the greatest challenges facing the planet.
Prince William said: "Over half a century ago, President Kennedy’s ‘Moonshot’ programme united millions of people around the goal of reaching the moon. Inspired by this, The Earthshot Prize aims to mobilise collective action around our unique ability to innovate, problem solve and repair our planet.
“I am honoured to introduce the 15 innovators, leaders, and visionaries who are the first ever Finalists for The Earthshot Prize. They are working with the urgency required in this decisive decade for life on Earth and will inspire all of us with their optimism in our ability to rise to the greatest challenges in human history.”
Launched by Prince William and The Royal Foundation in October 2020, The Earthshot Prize is the most prestigious global environment prize in history. Like President John F. Kennedy’s ‘Moonshot’ did almost 60 years ago, the Prize aims to unleash an unprecedented wave of innovation and leadership to tackle our greatest environmental challenges. The Earthshot Prize will be awarded every year for the next decade, discovering a total of 50 Winners.
Five of these 15 Finalists will be awarded The Earthshot Prize and will win £1million in Prize funding for the best solutions of the five Earthshot goals: Protect and Restore Nature; Clean our Air; Revive our Oceans; Build a Waste-free World; and Fix our Climate. The Winners will be announced during an awards ceremony on 17th October from London’s Alexandra Palace, broadcast in the UK on BBC One and globally on Discovery+.
The Earthshot Prize Finalists for 2021 are:
Protect and Restore Nature:
- Pole Pole Foundation, Democratic Republic of Congo
An inspiring community-led model of conservation that protects gorillas and local livelihoods.
- The Republic of Costa Rica
A pioneering scheme paying local citizens to restore natural ecosystems that has led to a revival of the rainforest.
- Restor, Switzerland
A ground-breaking online platform connecting and empowering local conservation projects.
Clean our Air:
- The Blue Map App, China
China’s first public environmental database enabling citizens to hold polluters to account.
- Takachar, India
A pioneering technology to create profitable products from agricultural waste and put a stop to the burning of crops.
- Vinisha Umashankar, India
A 14-year-old innovator and activist who has designed a solar-powered ironing cart with the potential to improve air quality across India.
Revive our Oceans:
- Coral Vita, Bahamas
A truly cutting-edge breakthrough in coral farming that can restore our world’s dying coral reefs.
- Living Seawalls, Australia
Innovative and replicable seawall panels bringing marine life back to coastal sea defences.
- Pristine Seas, USA
An unprecedented global conservation programme protecting 6.5 million square km of the world’s ocean.
Build a Waste-Free World:
- The City of Milan Food Waste Hubs, Italy
A city-wide initiative that has dramatically cut waste while tackling hunger.
- Sanergy, Kenya
A circular sanitation solution that converts human waste into safe products for local farmers.
- WOTA BOX, Japan
A tiny water treatment plant that turns 98% of wastewater into clean water.
Fix our Climate:
- AEM Electrolyser, Thailand/Germany/Italy
An ingenious green hydrogen technology developed to transform how we power our homes and buildings.
- Reeddi Capsules, Nigeria
Solar-powered energy capsules making electricity affordable and accessible in energy-poor communities.
- SOLbazaar, Bangladesh
The world’s first peer-to-peer energy exchange network in a country on the front-line of climate change.
All 15 Finalists will receive support from The Earthshot Prize Global Alliance Members, an unprecedented network of global businesses, who will help scale their solutions for even greater impact.
Of these 15 Finalists, the five Winners will be selected by The Earthshot Prize Council, a diverse team of influential individuals which includes: HRH Prince William, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, Sir David Attenborough, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Indra Nooyi, Shakira Mebarak, Christiana Figueres, Luisa Neubauer, Cate Blanchett, Yao Ming, Daniel Alves Da Silva, Ernest Gibson, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Jack Ma, and Naoko Yamazaki.
In the run-up to the prize-giving ceremony on 17 October, BBC and Discovery will release a 5-part documentary series THE EARTHSHOT PRIZE: REPAIRING OUR PLANET, featuring Earthshot Prize Council Members including Prince William, Shakira Mebarak, Daniel Alves Da Silva and Sir David Attenborough.
For more information about the Finalists and The Earthshot Prize, visit: www.earthshotprize.org, email Claire Straw: TEPmedia@freuds.com, download media pack here.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210917005454/en/
Contact information
Claire Straw:
TEPmedia@freuds.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
DEWA International Launched as a Wholly Owned Independent Subsidiary of DEWA to Develop Global Energy and Water Projects9.7.2026 19:07:00 EEST | Press release
HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, announced the establishment of ‘DEWA International’, a wholly owned independent subsidiary of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA). The company aims to develop conventional and clean energy projects worldwide and export Dubai’s successful energy and water infrastructure model to global markets. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260709099653/en/ DEWA International launched as a wholly owned independent subsidiary of DEWA to develop global energy and water projects (Photo: AETOSWire) HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said: “Thanks to the vision and directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Dubai has become a global model for achievement and accelerated development. Through its world-class infrastructure, particularly in the energy
Viz.ai Expands into Neurodegenerative Disease with Cortechs.ai Collaboration9.7.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Viz.ai, the leader in AI-powered disease detection and intelligent care coordination, today announced a collaboration with Cortechs.ai, a global leader in neuroimaging and quantitative analysis solutions, to integrate Cortechs.ai's NeuroQuant and NeuroQuant MS suite into the Viz.ai platform, expanding access to quantitative neuroimaging for hospitals and health systems across the U.S. This partnership marks Viz.ai's expansion into neurodegenerative disease, growing Viz Neuro Suite beyond its already market-leading neuro offerings. The collaboration will begin with a focus on multiple sclerosis (MS), integrating quantitative MRI analysis from NeuroQuant MS directly into Viz.ai's care coordination workflow, giving clinicians both the quantitative precision and the coordination infrastructure needed to identify and manage MS patients at scale. “Viz.ai's core mission has always been to increase access to life-saving treatments. It’s about getting the right information to the right care tea
Orca Security Report: 99.9% of Fixable AI Vulnerabilities Remain Unpatched as AI Moves Into Production9.7.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Orca Security, a leader in cloud and AI security, today released its 2026 State of AI Security Report, offering a first-hand view into how AI is being deployed across more than 1,200 production cloud environments. The findings show AI is no longer limited to isolated pilots or developer experiments. Organizations are embedding AI into production applications, cloud services, and autonomous workflows faster than security programs can adapt. More than half (56%) of organizations have already deployed AI agents into production, while 51% use AI to build custom applications. At the same time, Orca found that 81% of organizations run vulnerable AI packages, and 99.9% of fixable AI vulnerabilities remain unpatched, highlighting how quickly AI has become operational infrastructure without corresponding security maturity. The report also reveals that AI environments are rapidly becoming more interconnected and business critical. Among organizations adopting AI, 64% now run vector databases, 55
Echodyne Opens New Manufacturing Facility to Meet Surging Global Demand for Advanced MESA® Radar9.7.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
As governments around the world accelerate investment in counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) and short-range air defense, Echodyne today announced the opening of a new advanced radar manufacturing facility in Washington State, significantly expanding its manufacturing capacity to meet rapidly growing demand from U.S. and allied customers. With millions of drones manufactured and used by both sides in the Russian War in Ukraine, the need for enhanced safety for defense, national security, and critical infrastructure assets grows with every successful strike and interception. The low cost and high utility of drones dramatically alters the need for safety and security sensors. And as the low altitude economy takes off, hundreds of thousands of drones will perform a range of life-saving and commercial missions, requiring a sensor infrastructure to monitor airspace activity. The new 86,350-square-foot facility is a major step in readying supply for multiple, large, global markets. The
SCP Standard Capital Partners AG: Fabian Becker Appointed Chairman of the Management Board and CEO9.7.2026 15:51:00 EEST | Press release
The Supervisory Board of SCP Standard Capital Partners AG (WKN: A12UPJ | ISIN: DE000A12UPJ7 | XETRA ticker: CAP) resolved today to appoint Mr. Fabian Becker as Chairman of the Management Board and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective as of 9 July 2026. Ms. Stephanie Schettler-Köhler will remain a member of the Management Board and will assume the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260709982268/en/
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom