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
The LYCRA Company Reimagines the Trade Show Experience at Intertextile25.8.2026 19:11:00 EEST | Press release
The LYCRA Company, a global leader in fiber and technology solutions for the apparel industry, is reimagining the trade show experience at Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics Autumn Edition, which opened today in China. Building on the success of last year's ALL IN concept, the company has expanded its co-creation vision into a 356-square-meter Lifestyle District featuring partners Jingzili New Material, JYT Textile, Lianxingfa Knitting, and Trend Textile. The district is part of a larger 895-square-meter pavilion showcasing a total of 19 co-exhibitors. Together, they demonstrate how innovations in fiber, fabric, and garments can be combined to create compelling solutions for both work and play. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260821281698/en/ The LYCRA Company expands its co-creation vision through an immersive Lifestyle District at Intertextile Shanghai. “The apparel industry is built on creativity, and gr
BeOne Medicines Announces U.S. FDA Approval for TEVIMBRA-Based Regimen for First-Line HER2+ GEA25.8.2026 17:40:00 EEST | Press release
BeOne Medicines Ltd. (Nasdaq: ONC; HKEX: 06160; SSE: 688235), a global oncology company, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for TEVIMBRA® (tislelizumab) in combination with ZIIHERA® (zanidatamab) and chemotherapy for the first-line treatment of adult patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic HER2-positive (HER2+) gastric, gastroesophageal junction, or esophageal adenocarcinoma (GEA). The approval is supported by results from the Phase 3 HERIZON-GEA-01 trial, which were published in The New England Journal of Medicine earlier this year. GEA, which includes adenocarcinomas of the stomach, gastroesophageal junction and esophagus, remains an area of substantial unmet need in the United States, with more than 31,000 new stomach cancer cases diagnosed each year.1 Approximately 20% of patients with GEA have HER2+ disease, a subtype that has historically been difficult to treat.2,3,
Gatik Raises $200 Million; Series D Led by QIA and KDT as Demand for Driverless Commercial Freight Accelerates25.8.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Gatik, the leader in autonomous trucking, today announced $200 million in financing as demand accelerates for driverless commercial freight across Fortune 50 retail, grocery and CPG supply chains. The Series D round was led by Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), with participation from Millennium Management, ARK Invest, Intact Private Capital and others. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260825490075/en/ Gatik Announces Series D round Gatik has built one of the most commercially advanced businesses in autonomous freight, with more than $600 million in contracted revenue, 85,000 fully driverless orders completed, and 99% on-time delivery across its operations. Its trucks move goods across high-frequency regional networks between distribution centers and stores, giving customers a reliable way to add capacity, improve service levels and keep products moving. “This round, led by
Safe Software Opens Registration for the Peak of Data and AI 2027 With More Accessible Access Packages25.8.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Safe Software (Safe), creator of FME, the only All-Data, Any-AI enterprise integration platform, has announced that registration is open for the Peak of Data and AI 2027, its global conference for data and AI professionals, taking place March 9 to 11, 2027 at the QEII Centre in London, UK. The news builds on Safe's announcement in March 2026 that London would host the biennial conference, which has previously been held in Vancouver, Canada, Bonn, Germany and Seattle, Washington, and draws attendees from North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and beyond. Alongside opening registration, Safe has introduced a revised set of access packages designed to bring a broader range of professionals to the event: Free passes for public sector and government professionals, from any country One-day passes, for attendees who are unable to join for all three days Lower pricing across every pass type, including the pre-conference training add-on All attendees will also have access to a free AI training se
SLB Selected as Strategic Reservoir Partner for the Havstjerne Carbon Storage Project25.8.2026 15:46:00 EEST | Press release
Global energy technology company SLB (NYSE: SLB) today announced it has been selected as strategic reservoir partner for the Havstjerne carbon storage project in the Norwegian North Sea, providing technology and engineering services for the concept and front-end engineering and design (FEED) phases. The Havstjerne project is a large-scale offshore carbon storage development in Norway intended to serve industrial emitters across Europe, operated by Harbour Energy (LSE: HBR) in consortium with Stella Maris CCS, a Yinson Production company. SLB will coordinate an integrated project scope that connects analysis of the underground storage reservoir with injection well design, subsea infrastructure and plans for monitoring stored CO2 as the Havstjerne partnership develops the project’s technical, cost and schedule basis ahead of a final investment decision. The scope includes concept and FEED studies delivered through close collaboration between SLB and its OneSubsea™ joint venture. "Carbon
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