2023 Winners of The Earthshot Prize
Earlier this year, more than 1,100 applicants were narrowed to 15 finalists by a global panel of scientific, academic, and subject-matter experts. This year’s winners were chosen by Prince William and the Earthshot Prize Council, chaired by Christiana Figueres, an architect of the Paris Agreement.
At a star-studded Awards Ceremony at Mediacorp Campus in Singapore, the following were announced as the 2023 Winners of The Earthshot Prize:
• Protect and Restore Nature: Acción Andina, from Peru. The grassroots project is working in South America to protect native forest ecosystems across the Andes.
• Clean Our Air: GRST, from Hong Kong. The start-up has developed a new process for making and recycling lithium-ion batteries, paving the way “to make the electric cars of the future even cleaner.”
• Revive Our Oceans: WildAid Marine Program, a global organization with US-based headquarters. The non-profit combines “partnership building and knowledge sharing” to support the planet’s ocean conservation needs.
• Build a Waste-Free World: S4S Technologies from India. The agritech start-up uses solar-powered dehydration equipment to cut food waste and help farmers process excess crops into products with a longer shelf life.
• Fix Our Climate: Boomitra, a global organization with US-based headquarters. The company is “removing emissions and boosting farmer profits by incentivizing land restoration” by creating its soil carbon marketplace.
In his speech, Prince William said, “Our winners and all our finalists remind us that, no matter where you are on our planet, the spirit of ingenuity, and the ability to inspire change, surrounds us all”.
William also urged people to become an “architect of change” to ensure a safer planet for future generations.
The winners will receive £1 million each to help scale their ideas and accelerate their growth and impact during the ceremony. This third group of Earthshot Prize Winners is working to save and improve local communities around six continents and the environment. Meanwhile, all 15 finalists will receive a year of technical support and resources to help them accelerate and expand their work.
The Earthshot Prize, founded by Prince William in 2020, is backed by an international alliance of organizations, including the Bezos Earth Fund, Breakthrough Energy Foundation, Jack Ma Foundation, Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and Marc and Lynne Benioff. Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, and Bloomberg Philanthropies are both members of the alliance; Michael Bloomberg is the majority owner of the former and the latter’s founder.
The ceremony came ahead of the COP28 U.N. climate change summit in Dubai, which starts Nov. 30 and will include a speech by William’s father, King Charles III.