In a speech today at the third annual Earthshot Prize awards for environmental innovation, he issued a rallying call for change.
He said: “The last year has been one of great change and even greater challenge. A year in which the effects of the climate crisis have become too visible to be ignored.
“And a year that has left so many feeling defeated, their hope, dwindling.”
Aides said he was referring to the extreme heat seen all over Europe and wildfires that have caused death and destruction elsewhere.
But William, 41, insisted the innovators showcased at the awards ceremony for the prize he created three years ago offered hope for the future.
“I choose to believe that future generations will look back on this decade as the point at which we globally took collective action for our planet,” he said.
“The moment we refused to accept the voices of denial and defeatism, and instead, became the architects of change towards a healthy and sustainable world.
“We owe it to the generations that will follow us to work together both for their future, and for the future of our planet.
“It is my belief that we will find the courage to do so. We will find the courage because we will hold onto the most powerful motivators of all: optimism and hope.”
William’s speech came as the climax of a glittering awards ceremony at the Theatre at Mediacorp in Singapore featuring performances by musical acts including Bastille and OneRepublic and appearances by stars such as Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett, and fellow actors Hannah Waddingham, Lana Condor, and Sterling K Brown.
During the ceremony the five winners of this year’s £1 million awards were named as: Acción Andina, GRST, WildAid Marine Program, S4S Technologies, and Boomitra.
For The Earthshot Prize to Protect and Restore Nature: Acción Andina, The Andes Mountains, South America
Nominated by: Salesforce
Acción Andina is a grassroots, community-based initiative working across South America to protect native high Andean forest ecosystems for their invaluable benefits to nature and millions of people in the region.
For The Earthshot Prize to Clean Our Air: GRST, Hong Kong, China
Nominated by: Bluetech Clean Air Alliance
With the development of a new way to build and recycle vital lithium-ion batteries, GRST’s solution offers a pathway to make the electric cars of the future even cleaner.
For The Earthshot Prize to Revive Our Oceans: WildAid Marine Program, Global (US HQ with work in The Bahamas, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Gabon, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Palau, Panama, Philippines, Sao Tome & Principe, and Tanzania) Nominated by: Project Everyone
Global non-profit organization WildAid scales marine enforcement to end illegal fishing and strengthen ocean conservation.
For The Earthshot Prize to Build A Waste-Free World: S4S Technologies, India Nominated by: Acumen, Advaita Capital, Ashden, U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) S4S Technologies’ solar-powered dryers and processing equipment to combat food waste, enabling small-hold farmers to preserve crops and turn produce that might otherwise go to waste into valuable products.
For The Earthshot Prize to Fix Our Climate: Boomitra, Global (With work in South America, Asia, and Africa)
Nominated by: DPWorld, Impact Entrepreneur, U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) Boomitra are removing emissions and boosting farmer profits by incentivising land restoration through a verified carbon-credit marketplace.
The five winners were selected by Prince William and the Earthshot Prize Council, whose members include: Queen Rania of Jordan, Cate Blanchett, Sir David Attenborough, Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, Stella McCartney, and Chinese basketball star Yao Ming.
In addition to the £1 million investment in the five winners, all 15 finalists will receive mentorship, resources, and technical support from The Earthshot Prize Fellowship Programme, a year-long programme to accelerate the growth of their groundbreaking solutions.
That support includes access to a network of influential businesses, investors, and climate experts. Florent Kaiser, Chief Executive Officer, Global Forest Generation, said: “In just five years, Global Forest Generation has grown Acción Andina to become one of the largest ecosystem restoration initiatives in South America.
The support and recognition from The Earthshot Prize affirms our commitment to building climate change resiliency among communities most impacted by ecosystem loss.
We aim to continue scaling and sustaining Acción Andina, while also replicating its community-driven model globally. We will prioritize regions with critically endangered and neglected ecosystems and vulnerable populations of people and wildlife that are essential to climate change resilience.”
Justin Hung, CEO and Co-Founder, GRST, said: “We are honored to be part of The Earthshot Prize’s powerful platform for change.
The world needs a massive amount of batteries to achieve Net Zero by 2050, but a revolution is needed to make these batteries cleaner and more recyclable.
Today, our water-based technology is driving this transformation to provide consumers with sustainable energy future.”
Meaghan Brosnan, Chief Operating Officer, WildAid, said: “We are thrilled, honored, and humbled to receive the 2023 Earthshot Prize to Revive Our Oceans. WildAid’s Marine Program ismaking the promise of marine protected areas and sustainable fisheries real by filling a critical global gap: law enforcement capacity.
Fundamentally, this honor recognizes the hard work our hundreds of dedicated local partners are doing to ensure the Earth’s oceans are healthy and vibrant for future generations.
Winning the Earthshot Prize is an important milestone in our program’s path to scale from 96 to 250 marine areas by 2028, and will create effective enforcement with our partners to allow fisheries, marine wildlife, coral reefs, blue carbon habitats, and coastal communities to thrive.”
Nidhi Pant, Co-Founder, S4S Technologies, said: “S4S, along with women farmers, are creating a new food ecosystem that reduces wastage and mitigates the increase in GHG emissions while meeting the world’s food needs.
With empowered women farmers taking leadership to fight climate change by ensuring food security, increasing incomes, creating jobs, boosting local economies, and advocating with the government, women farmers have emerged as key- partners in driving lasting impact. We are honored to be recognised by the Earthshot Prize.
We aim to create a waste-free food system and to transform lives of millions of women farmers.”Aadith Moorthy, Founder and CEO, Boomitra, said: “On behalf of the Boomitra family, I’m deeply honored and humbled to accept the Earthshot Prize. This prize is a recognition of the hard work and dedication of our partners on the ground, the Boomitra team, and all the farmers we work with, who work every single day towards moving the needle on climate change.”
