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
BBH Launches a New Technology Business, Braid, Solving for Intelligent Data Transformation9.9.2026 15:45:00 EEST | Press release
Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) today announced the launch of a new technology affiliate, Braid LLC, focused on solving enterprise data transformation for financial services. Braid offers an AI-native data transformation platform that gives firms a scale solution to transform, connect, and manage their data with confidence. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260909294398/en/ Braid empowers teams to build, automate, and oversee reliable production-grade data transformations in a fraction of the time typically required today. Instead of requiring engineers to build data automations, Braid allows business users to describe their needs in natural language that AI agents use to build intelligent data transformations that are transparent and fully auditable. Braid’s enterprise-grade engine then processes and delivers those data transformations in a controlled and deterministic environment. Built by financial services exp
LTM Collaborates with IBM and Red Hat on Lightwell to Advance AI-Driven Open-Source Software Remediation9.9.2026 15:30:00 EEST | Press release
LTM, the Business Creativity partner to the world's largest enterprises, today announced that it has collaborated with IBM and Red Hat on Lightwell to help enterprises safeguard the open-source software supply chain through AI-driven vulnerability remediation. As AI accelerates the discovery of software vulnerabilities, organizations must move beyond detection-focused approaches and adopt enterprise-scale remediation strategies that enable rapid risk mitigation without disrupting business-critical applications. Lightwell’s approach of delivering validated fixes for production environments aligns with LTM's aim of helping customers build secure, resilient, and operationally efficient software supply chains. By combining AI-powered remediation capabilities with enterprise-grade validation and deployment support, Lightwell aims to help organizations address security challenges across increasingly complex open-source ecosystems. Building on its long-standing status as an IBM Platinum Partn
New England Journal of Medicine Publishes Data from Phase 3 Studies Demonstrating Oveporexton (ORZEYFUL) Improved the Full Range of Narcolepsy Type 1 Symptoms and Quality of Life9.9.2026 15:24:00 EEST | Press release
Takeda (TSE:4502/NYSE:TAK) announced that the New England Journal of Medicine published results from two Phase 3 studies evaluating oveporexton (ORZEYFUL), an oral orexin receptor 2 (OX2R) agonist, in people with narcolepsy type 1 (NT1).1 Oveporexton is the first and only medicine to treat the underlying cause of NT1. "People living with narcolepsy type 1 face persistent symptoms across the day and night, which can impact many aspects of daily life,” said Emmanuel Mignot, M.D., Ph.D., principal investigator for the FirstLight (TAK-861-3001) Phase 3 study. “The newly published Phase 3 data reinforce the potential of oveporexton to transform how we approach narcolepsy type 1 in clinical practice, shifting from managing individual symptoms to treating the disease itself.” NT1 is a chronic, rare neurological disease driven by orexin deficiency. As a result, people experience a range of daytime and nighttime symptoms including excessive daytime sleepiness, cataplexy (sudden loss of muscle t
ZincFive Launches Next-Generation BMS, Setting a New Standard for Nickel-Zinc Battery Management9.9.2026 15:05:00 EEST | Press release
ZincFive®, the leader in nickel-zinc (NiZn) battery-based solutions for immediate power applications, today launched the ZincFive BMS, a next-generation battery management system purpose-built for its NiZn chemistry, designed and assembled in the U.S. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260909653032/en/ The ZincFive BMS ships standard with every ZincFive BC Series UPS Battery Cabinets, serving as the primary interface for data center operators, UPS OEM partners, and system integrators to monitor and manage ZincFive’s technology. Built on years of experience managing NiZn in real-world data center environments, ZincFive engineered the BMS around the unique characteristics of its NiZn chemistry, rather than adapting a platform designed for lithium-ion or lead-acid batteries. The result is a streamlined two-tier hardware architecture, consisting of the ZincFive Controller and ZincFive Tray Monitor, that delivers high
EIG Announces Final Close of Senior Infrastructure Debt Fund VI With $4.0 Billion Raised Across Its Direct Lending Platform9.9.2026 15:00:00 EEST | Press release
EIG, a leading institutional investor in the global energy and infrastructure sectors, today announced the final close of EIG Senior Infrastructure Debt Fund VI (“SIDF VI”) at $1.9 billion, nearly double the size of its predecessor fund. Together with $2.1 billion committed to single investor vehicles, this exceeds the strategy's original $3 billion target and reflects strong demand from investors seeking customized and evergreen exposure to senior infrastructure debt. Since launching in July 2024, SIDF VI has already committed approximately $1 billion across 16 investments, reflecting strong proprietary origination capabilities. SIDF VI seeks to make directly originated, senior secured debt investments across a broad range of sectors, including power generation, renewable energy, energy transition infrastructure, midstream and other critical infrastructure, with a primary focus on opportunities in the United States and Europe. The strategy draws on EIG's longstanding relationships wit
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