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
I-Pulse Signs Definitive Agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce for $250 Million CHIPS R&D Award25.6.2026 21:53:00 EEST | Press release
I-Pulse Co-founders Robert Friedland, CEO, and Laurent Frescaline, CTO, announced today a definitive agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s CHIPS Research and Development Office for a $250 million award for the further development of I-Pulse’s proprietary semiconductor and pulsed power technology. “With today’s announced investment, the Trump administration is strengthening America’s capabilities and enhancing its national and energy security goals,” said Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick. Co-founder Robert Friedland said: “We are excited to partner with the U.S. government to advance our unique, American technology suite to benefit our great nation. This award supports the development of world-leading critical components in the pulsed power technology stack, with profound implications for energy security and national defense.” The CHIPS award strengthens U.S. supply chain resilience by boosting domestic semiconductor manufacturing and reducing reliance on foreign-made se
Burjeel Holdings Prices First MENA Healthcare Sukuk Since 2018, 3.2x Oversubscribed25.6.2026 20:31:00 EEST | Press release
Burjeel Holdings, a leading super-specialty healthcare group in the GCC listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, priced its inaugural USD 500 million Regulation S 5-year senior unsecured Sukuk offering due 2031 under its newly established USD 1.5 billion Senior Unsecured Sukuk Programme. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260625449702/en/ Burjeel Holdings’ inaugural Sukuk was priced at a 7.000 % profit rate and a yield of 7.125% (Photo: AETOSWire) The offering attracted significant demand from high-quality international and regional investors, with the orderbook peaking at USD 1.6 billion, representing 3.2x oversubscription. The strength of the orderbook enabled Burjeel to tighten pricing from initial price thoughts in the mid-7% area, with the Sukuk priced at a 7.000% profit rate and a yield of 7.125%, representing the lowest 5-year yield by a GCC-based private non-investment grade corporate issuer since 202
Fossil Fuels Are a Thing of the Past; The Future Is Renewable: The Smarter E Europe Concludes With a Clear Message25.6.2026 20:03:00 EEST | Press release
Packed halls, a vibrant atmosphere and a buzzing vibe – after three days, The smarter E Europe 2026, Europe’s largest alliance of exhibitions for the energy industry, has come to a successful close. The event held at Messe München offered a glimpse of a future-oriented energy world powered by renewables. A strong signal with a clear message went out to the world from the Bavarian capital: The future is renewable. Renewable energies can help ensure a reliable, secure and cost-effective energy supply around the clock, seven days a week. A total of 2,650 exhibitors from 52 countries – many of whom had expanded their booth space compared with the previous year – demonstrated how this can work. More than 66 percent of exhibitors were from outside of Germany. They presented innovative and market-ready products ranging from virtual power plants, smart grid and load control, smart charging solutions, storage technologies and PV hybrid systems to digital platforms transparently and flexibly.The
HeyGen Doubles to $200M ARR in Eight Months on the Rise of Identity-First AI Video25.6.2026 19:02:00 EEST | Press release
HeyGen, the identity-first AI video platform, today announced it has surpassed $200 million in annual recurring revenue, doubling in eight months. The milestone reflects a rapid shift in how individuals, small businesses, and enterprises adopt AI video: as a scalable layer for human communication across languages, formats, and audiences. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260625305891/en/ HeyGen passes $200M in ARR HeyGen's community now spans more than 30 million users in 196 countries and 175+ languages & dialects, from solopreneurs creating professional social videos for the first time to 85% of the Fortune 100 — who together have created more than 118 million videos. That growth has come with rare capital efficiency: HeyGen generates roughly $2.70 in ARR for every dollar of equity capital raised, making it one of the most capital-efficient venture-backed AI companies in the world. "Crossing $200 million in AR
Amazfit Brings Interactive iOS Notifications to Select Smartwatches in Europe25.6.2026 17:50:00 EEST | Press release
Amazfit, a leading global smart wearable brand owned by Zepp Health, today announced its support of iOS Notification Forwarding, a new Beta feature that provides eligible iPhone users in the European Union with a more complete notification experience on select Amazfit smartwatches. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260625552705/en/ Amazfit brings interactive iOS notifications to select smartwatches in Europe, allowing users to interact with supported notifications directly from their watch. The feature goes beyond basic notification alerts, allowing users to interact with supported notifications directly from their watch. Depending on the notification type, users may be able to reply to messages, complete quick actions such as Mark as Read or Call Back, and view supported images from camera, doorbell and other alerts. iOS Notification Forwarding will initially be available on: Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra Amazfit Bal
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