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
Draslovka and Avathon Partner to Deliver AI-Powered Solutions for Mining Through Autonomy, MetOptima and Blue Cube Combined Offering10.2.2026 16:00:00 EET | Press release
Draslovka a.s. (“Draslovka”), a global innovator in sustainable chemical technologies and AI‑enabled services for the mining sector, and Avathon, the leader in Autonomy for Operations, today announced a strategic commercial partnership to accelerate the adoption of intelligent, autonomous, and data‑driven operations across the global mining industry. The partnership provides a breakthrough solution that combines Draslovka’s real‑time mineral and slurry monitoring technologies—delivered through its world class Blue Cube on‑stream mineralogical sensors—and MetOptima advanced metallurgical optimization AI engine, with the Avathon Autonomy Platform, a scalable industrial‑AI environment that enhances operational performance, automating decisions, and orchestrating complex operations across sites. Under the agreement, Draslovka and Avathon will collaborate closely on go-to-market initiatives, jointly commercializing and cross‑selling the combined offering. The combined Draslovka‑Avathon offe
Golub Capital Expands Broadly Syndicated Loan CLO Business to Europe10.2.2026 16:00:00 EET | Press release
Today, Golub Capital (“the Firm”) announced the expansion of its BSL CLO strategy to Europe and the appointment of Tyler Wallace as Managing Director, European Broadly Syndicated Loans. Wallace brings more than 20 years of leading credit experience to the Firm and most recently was a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager of CLOs at Fair Oaks Capital in London. “This is a natural expansion for us,” said Scott Morrison, Head of BSL at Golub Capital. “The expansion builds on our market-leading U.S. CLO platform and strengthens our ability to deliver comprehensive financing solutions to partners across Europe.” Said Tyler Wallace, “Golub Capital has an exceptional BSL track record. I am excited to lead this next chapter and bring the Firm’s capabilities to partners in the region.” As of December 31, 2025, Golub Capital manages over $14 billion in broadly syndicated loans and has completed over 60 BSL CLO transactions since 2007. Other key business highlights include: Closed over $9 billi
Telekom Srbija Group Wins Telecom Deal of the Year Award for Landmark $900M Eurobond10.2.2026 15:53:00 EET | Press release
Telekom Srbija Group has been honoured with the Europe Telecom Deal of the Year award at the prestigious TMT Finance Awards EMEA 2026, recognising excellence in telecom financing. The award was given for its US$900 million corporate Eurobond, listed on Euronext Dublin. The award celebrates outstanding dealmaking in the telecom sector across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The distinguished accolade highlights Telekom Srbija’s strategic success in executing a high-profile international financial transaction that strengthened investor confidence and expanded the company’s footprint in capital markets. This marks a significant milestone in Telekom Srbija Group’s continued growth and global recognition. Vladimir Lučić, CEO of Telekom Srbija Group, said: “We are incredibly proud that our Eurobond has been recognised as Europe Telecom Deal of the Year. This award reflects not just the success of the transaction, but the confidence global investors have in our strategy, our financial stre
Intuit Mailchimp Unlocks a New Era of Profitable Ecommerce Marketing with Advanced, Data-Driven Capabilities10.2.2026 15:30:00 EET | Press release
Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU), the global financial technology platform that makes Intuit TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp, today announced a set of Mailchimp product innovations that unlock profitable growth for ecommerce businesses. Powered by the Intuit platform, the enhancements include more ways for merchants to connect their data and activate omnichannel campaigns driving up to 30x ROI for ecommerce customers1 without the added price or complexity. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260210726144/en/ Built to deliver ROI for less cost, Intuit Mailchimp now combines unified data with powerful automation across email and messaging. Product innovations available in 185 countries and territories across North America, Latin America, EMEA and APAC. For small and mid-market online sellers, customer acquisition and growth are becoming harder to measure and optimize. Only 33% of marketers say their pre-
Vasion Appoints Scott Lee as Chief Product Officer to Accelerate the Impact of Intelligent Print Automation10.2.2026 15:00:00 EET | Press release
Vasion, a leader in serverless printing and Intelligent Print Automation, today announced the appointment of Scott Lee as Chief Product Officer. Lee brings more than 25 years of C-level product and growth leadership experience transforming and scaling enterprise SaaS companies. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260210803525/en/ Scott Lee joins Vasion as Chief Product Officer, bringing more than 25 years of enterprise SaaS leadership experience to accelerate the company's intelligent print automation platform and AI-ready capabilities. As Chief Product Officer at Vasion, Lee will lead product management, product design, and product operations. He will focus on expanding strong product foundations and ensuring customer value as the company scales. His extensive experience modernizing complex technologies into AI-powered platforms positions him to accelerate growth and innovation at Vasion. "Vasion has long been kn
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