- By Daniela Relf, Singapore, by Gemma Crewe
- BBC news
Prince William and Earthshot 2023 winners
Revealing the five winners of the annual Earthshot Prize, the Prince of Wales said the climate crisis has become “too visible to ignore”.
Prince William said he believed this was a decade in which collective action was needed to protect the planet.
He announced the winner of the £1 million prize at a ceremony on Tuesday.
These include a company that makes electric car batteries using easily recyclable components and a plan to help farmers reduce food waste.
Hannah Waddingham, who hosted the ceremony, walked the green carpet with the Prince of Wales.
Speaking at the awards ceremony in Singapore, Prince William said: “Last year was a year of great change and even greater challenges.
“This is a year in which the effects of the climate crisis became too obvious to ignore.
“And it was a year in which many people felt defeated and felt like their hopes were lost.
“But as we saw tonight, there is still hope.”
The ceremony was hosted by actress Hannah Waddingham, and was attended by Sir David Attenborough, Hollywood star Cate Blanchett, former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and featured performances by One Republic and Bastille.
The Princess of Wales said she was disappointed not to be able to attend as she remained in the UK to help her 10-year-old son George with his “first major exam”.
Those in attendance included Cate Blanchett, who met with Earthshot Prize chief executive Hannah Jones ahead of the ceremony.
Members of indie pop band Bastille pose on the green carpet
The Crown Prince continued his speech with an upbeat tone, saying, “We continue to have the most powerful motivation of all: optimism and hope.”
He added: “I believe future generations will look back on this decade as a time when we took collective global action for the planet.
“This is the moment when we refuse to accept the voices of denial and defeatism and instead become architects of change towards a healthy and sustainable world.”
The annual awards, now in its third year and the first in Asia, was created by Prince William to fund projects aimed at saving the planet.
The award is named after the 1960s American Moonshot ambition by then-President John F. Kennedy, who pledged to put humans on the moon within 10 years.
Who is the winner?
Protect and restore nature:
- Axion Andina, Andes, South America: This grassroots effort is centered around a commitment to working together for the common good. Earthshot says tens of thousands of people from local indigenous communities are banding together to protect native forests and ecosystems.
- GRST, Hong Kong, China: With the electric vehicle market rapidly growing, GRST has developed a cleaner, safer and cheaper way to manufacture and recycle lithium-ion batteries. This includes building batteries using water-soluble bonded composites, allowing their metals to be more economically recovered and reused, reducing the demand for further extraction. According to Earthshot, this method reduces greenhouse gas emissions from production by 40% and increases battery life up to 10% longer than average.
- WildAid Marine Program, Global: The nonprofit’s programs help increase the effectiveness of marine protected areas where human activity is highly regulated. Earthshot says this will ensure people have the tools to stop illegal fishing, enable wildlife recovery and improve coastal livelihoods.
Building a lean world:
- S4S Technologies, India: Founded in 2013 by six university friends, the organization helps rural communities fight food waste, poverty and gender inequality. Earthshot says its solar-powered dryers and equipment help small farmers preserve crops and turn produce that would otherwise go to waste into valuable products.
- Bhumitra, Global: Bhoomitra, which means “friend of the earth” in Sanskrit, is a soil carbon market that rewards farmers for sustainable practices. Earthshot says it uses satellite and AI technology to monitor the improvements farmers make to the soil and track its ability to store carbon over time.
One of the judges, Cate Blanchett, said there was “reason for optimism”.
She told BBC News: “I think the overwhelming nature of the challenge of tackling climate change and its urgency can quickly lead to despair and apathy.
“And I found it personally very empowering to harness that urgency in an optimistic way, in a solution-based way.”
Each winner will receive £1 million ($1.2 million) to develop their innovation.of 15 finalists The candidates were narrowed down from over 1,300 candidates.
When asked what the prize money meant to him, Axion Andina president Constantino Aucca said: “It’s a million trees, a million hopes, a million ways to open new doors.” ” he said.
Megan Brosnan, Chief Operating Officer of the WildAid Marine Program, said: “We never thought we would be in charge of it…It was an overwhelming feeling…Conservation is a team sport. We cannot solve this strange problem on our own.”
The award is made using recycled materials such as brass obtained from water pipe fittings, household waste and microscopic metal elements filtered from sewage sludge.
Guests were asked to wear clothes they had “previously loved.” Prince William wore the Alexander McQueen blazer he previously wore to the 2021 Earthshot Awards ceremony.
The ceremony will be broadcast on the BBC in the UK at 17:20 GMT on Sunday.
