Winners of the Earthshot Prize 2021 announced
The inaugural winners of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize were announced Sunday at a star-studded event at London’s Alexandra Palace.
Earthshot Prize is an ambitious environmental program that aims to find new ideas and technologies around the world to tackle climate change and Earth’s most pressing challenges.
Prince William took to the stage to tell the audience.
“I want to say something to the young watching tonight. For too long, we haven’t done enough to protect the planet for your future. The Earthshot is for you. In the next 10 years, we are going to act. We are going to find the solutions to repair our planet. Please keep learning, keep demanding change and don’t give up hope. We will rise to these challenges.”
The ceremony capped a 10-month global search with more than 750 applications from around the world.
The Earthshot Prize 2021 winners are:
- Protect and Restore Nature: The Republic of Costa Rica, for its system of conservation areas designed to protect 6% of the world’s biodiversity.
- Clean Our Air: Takachar of India for converting crop residues into sellable bio-products like fuel and fertilizer.
- Revive Our Oceans: Coral Vita, the Bahamas for reviving oceans by growing climate change resilient corals.
- Build A Waste-free World: Milan’s Food Waste Hubs for initiatives to reduce food waste.
- Fix Our Climate: AEM Electrolyser, Thailand, Germany and Italy for turning renewable electricity into emission-free hydrogen gas.
William and his charity, The Royal Foundation, launched the Earthshot Prize last year, inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s 1962 “Moonshot” speech that challenged and inspired Americans to go to the moon.
Each of the five winners will receive a grant worth 1 million pounds ($1.4 million) to develop and scale up their ideas.
The prestigious awards will be held every year over the next decade and at the end of this year’s ceremony, Prince William confirmed the next event will take place in the US.