Solutions For Climate Change: Prince William’s First Earthshot Prize Awards To Take Place In October

Inspired by President Kennedy’s ‘Moonshot’, the Earthshot Prize Award was founded by Prince William in 2020. It is a global environmental prize with an aim to find and scale innovative and groundbreaking solutions to tackle climate change. Its first-ever awards ceremony will take place on October 17 where 15 finalists will be celebrated and five winners will be awarded.

Prince William announced details of the inaugural event in a short film in front of the famous Alexandra Palace Rose Window and across the London skyline and it was later broadcasted on the Landsec’s Piccadilly Lights screen.

What is the Earthshot Prize?

The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge manages the Earthshot Prize and is inspired from President John F. Kennedy’s Moonshot. Back in the 1960s, this initiative brought together people with a common purpose and accelerated the development of new technologies.

The Earthshot Prize is focused on finding solutions to solve the climate crisis over the next 10 years. From 2021 to 2030, the prize will reward solutions that meet the five ‘Earthshot’ goals – Protect and restore nature; clean our air; revive our oceans; build a waste-free world; and fix our climate.

The inaugural event is set to take place on October 17 at the Alexandra Palace in London, along with with other iconic landmarks across the U.K.’s capital city. It will be broadcasted around the world by BBC One for viewers in the U.K. and a global broadcast partner internationally. Additionally, it will feature performances and never-before-seen musical collaborations.

“By hosting the COP26 conference in Glasgow just weeks after our inaugural awards, the U.K. is helping lead the world in tackling climate change,” Prince William said in a statement. “London is a fantastic location to showcase this leadership, spotlight the finalists and award our very first Earthshot Prize winners. The awards ceremony will be a truly global event, connecting people from all over the world to celebrate these inspiring leaders and their innovations to solve the world’s greatest environmental challenges.”

Read: António Guterres On The Climate Crisis: ‘We Are Coming To A Point Of No Return’

The awards ceremony will be a truly global event, connecting people from all over the world to celebrate these inspiring leaders and their innovations to solve the world’s greatest environmental challenges

Prince William

Search for the best climate solutions

Over the last six months, the Earthshot Prize along with its Global Alliance network of 200+ nominators, have been looking at businesses, governments, grassroots initiatives and many more which have potential climate solutions.

15 finalists will be announced in July, with five official winners selected by The Earthshot Prize Council. The Council includes an international team of well-known individuals including Prince William, Sir David Attenborough, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Shakira, Luisa Neubauer, and Cate Blanchett.

The prize’s first five winners with the best environmental solutions will each be awarded GBP£1 million (approx. US$1.3M) to scale their solutions.

Welcoming the awards to London, the first international city to host the ceremony, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said that this a momentous occasion for London. “As will be showcased throughout London Climate Action Week, we have been determined to lead the world in this area – with an ambitious target for net zero city by 2030 and delivering solutions like the world’s first Ultra Low Emission Zone to make our city cleaner, greener and healthier for all. The Earthshot Prize: London 2021 is an unprecedented opportunity to inspire all Londoners and people around the world to be part of this global effort to repair our planet. I am thrilled that our city will be the inaugural host to award the first Earthshot Prizes for these ground-breaking solutions that can help improve all of our lives.”

Read: U.N. Scientists: Climate and Biodiversity Must Be Crises Solved Together

Earthshot Prize’s mission

Going forward, across its decade-long lifespan, nine more international cities will be converted into venues for the events to reach a wider audience. By the end of 2030, ten global ceremonies will award fifty winners with a total of £50 million (US$68 million) to support them in their work to restore the planet.

As will be showcased throughout London Climate Action Week, we have been determined to lead the world in this area – with an ambitious target for net zero city by 2030 and delivering solutions like the world’s first Ultra Low Emission Zone to make our city cleaner, greener and healthier for all

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London

This announcement comes just before the scheduled London Climate Action Week which started on June 26 and will be on till July 4. Here, London is hosting the largest independent climate festival in Europe, where climate thinkers, professionals and communities have gathered together to take global climate action.

Lead image courtesy of The Earthshot Prize.