The Duke of Cambridge announced the 15 finalists for the inaugural Earthshot Prizes on Friday, and the variety of those selected range from individuals to companies to an entire country.
In the video announcement, 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.”
The nominees for the Protect and Restore Nature Earthshot are the Pole Pole Foundation, the Republic of Costa Rica, and Restor.
The nominees for the Clean Our Air Earthshot are the Blue Map App, Takachar, and 14-year-old Vinisha Umashankar.
The nominees for the Revive Our Oceans Earthshot are Coral Vita, Pristine Seas, and Living Seawalls.
The nominees for the Building a Waste-Free World Earthshot are the City of Milan Food Waste Hubs, Sangery, and Wota Box.
The nominees for the Fix Our Climate Earthshot are AEM Electrolyser, Reeddi Capsules, and Solbazaar.
There were over 750 nominations received by global nominators, and were then whittled down to 15 finalists by an expert panel who assessed the candidates on a variety of metrics.
The Earthshot Prize website notes that the finalists were nominated by organisations including the African Conservation Foundation, the African Leadership Group, Clean Air Fund, REV Ocean, Salesforce, the Solar Impulse Foundation, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Five of the 15 finalists will go on to win in their categories—Protect and Restore Nature; Clean our Air; Revive our Oceans; Build a Waste-free World; and Fix our Climate—and will receive a cash prize of £1 million. All finalists will receive support from the Global Alliance of partners to implement or advance their projects.
The inaugural Earthshot Prize ceremony will take place in London at Alexandra Palace on 17 October. The ceremony will be broadcast by the BBC in the UK and on discovery+ internationally.
