Sampson Osei Tutu Aggrey, Prince of Wales, Tokunboh Ishmael – in conversation during 2024 Earthshot Week in Cape Town
What is the Earthshot Prize
Started by HRH Prince William in 2020, the award aims to celebrate and support people and companies working to provide innovative solutions for climate and environmental issues.
It was inspired by former US president John F Kennedy’s Moonshot project in 1962. This set scientists the challenge of placing an astronaut on the Moon and returning him safely – and in the process helped advance technology.
The challenge
The challenge to the world is based on five Earthshots – simple but ambitious and universal goals for 2030, developed in collaboration with leading environmental experts. And one of the biggest challenges faced across all sectors: how do we speed solutions to scale?
The Earthshot goals are: Protect and Restore Nature; Clean our Air; Revive our Oceans; Build a Waste-Free World; and Fix our Climate.
How it works
Every year over the course of this critical decade, five Winners with the best chance of helping to achieve Earthshots are awarded £1 million each to scale their solutions, with all 15 Finalists receiving tailored support from Earthshot’s global alliance of partners.
FIVE “GAMECHANGING” INITIATIVES WON THIS YEAR’S EARTHSHOT PRIZE
The Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative, a pioneering conservation project that has saved Kazakhstan’s saiga antelope, helped to restore its steppe habitat and reintroduced Przewalski horses to the ecosystem;
GAYO, a Ghana-based African project that seeks to improve waste management;
The High Ambition Coalition, a global alliance in 119 countries that’s working to protect 30% of Earth by 2030;
Keep It Cool, a Kenyan initiative that seeks to prevent food waste by designing solar-powered cold storage units and rolling them out at locations where fish are landed;
Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems, a USA process which converts waste heat into electricity.
The five Winners were selected by The Earthshot Prize Council, a diverse group of experts, advocates and individuals dedicated to championing urgent and innovative action to protect our planet.
The Earthshot Prize Council is chaired by The Earthshot Prize Board of Trustees Chair, Dame Christiana Figueres, architect of the Paris Agreement.
Members include: Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, José Andrés, Sir David Attenborough, Cate Blanchett, Ernest Gibson, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Wanjira Mathai, Stella McCartney, Nemonte Nenquimo, Luisa Neubauer, Indra Nooyi, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Naoko Yamazaki and HRH Prince William.
WHY WAS AFRICA CHOSEN TO HOST THIS YEAR’S EARTHSHOT PRIZE?
When he founded the prize, Prince William saw it as an antidote to the despair and desperation that he saw in the world surrounding the climate issue.
He said: “It can give young people a platform to channel their hope and optimism. We are seeing that hope in Cape Town and across the continent.”
‘’Africa has always held a special place in my heart – as somewhere I found comfort as a teenager, where I proposed to my wife and most recently as the founding inspiration behind The Earthshot Prize. It was in Namibia in 2018 that I realised the power of how innovative, positive solutions to environmental problems could drive transformative change for humans and nature.
I am proud that since its inception the Prize has travelled to Europe, North America and Asia, spotlighting and scaling 45 ground-breaking solutions, all of which are having a tangible impact as we work as a global collective to secure the future of our planet.
I want The Earthshot Prize to have provided a platform to all those innovators bringing about change for their communities, encouraged potential investors to speed African solutions to scale and inspired young people across Africa who are engaged in climate issues. I firmly believe that if we come together with collective ambition and urgency, we can reshape the future of our planet.’’
”Africa is deemed the most vulnerable continent to the impacts of climate change, even though its countries boast the lowest carbon emissions. While Africa contributes the least to climate change, it feels its effects more than any other region.
There’s no shortage in Africa of the innovation needed to tackle these challenges – but there is a shortage of investment and opportunities to grow. We have worked for over three years with partners to build a collaborative platform that helps African innovators and storytellers scale.
To date, we have received over 500 nominations from 38 different African countries, with over 750 nominees in total delivering positive impact on the continent. If every proven solution discovered so far were scaled or replicated, the environmental and human impact would be transformative, not only across Africa, but globally.”
”The demographics are clear. Africa is home to the fastest-growing young population in the world, meaning its youth will shape our future.
We want to empower them with the accelerators, tools, education, support and funding to unlock their creativity and repair the planet.”Africa’s youth are tomorrow’s climate leaders / the generation of change-makers
Acknowledgement: earthshotprize.org