William’s £50million green ‘Nobel’ prize
He offers huge award for best eco plans to save the planet
THE Duke of Cambridge today unveils a £50million prize designed to find solutions to the environmental crisis.
The Earthshot Prize, which is being dubbed the ‘green Nobel’, is inspired by former US president John F Kennedy’s Moonshot initiative to put a man on the moon.
Prince William has convened a group of financial backers to offer five awards worth £1million every year for the next decade to organisations and individuals working to tackle global issues including climate change, plastic in the oceans, protecting endangered species and reducing waste.
Sources close to the prince said he has put his ‘heart and soul’ into organising the project over the past two years.
‘It’s the biggest initiative he has tackled so far and might be the biggest ever given the gravity of the situation facing our planet,’ said one.
A panel of 13 judges, to be unveiled today, will pick winners every year in the fields of protecting and restoring nature; cleaning our air; reviving our oceans; building a waste-free world; and fixing our climate.
Nominees for the £1million prizes can include anyone whose workable solutions make a substantial contribution to achieving the Earthshot goals.
They can be individuals, teams or collaborations and could include scientists, activists, economists, community projects, leaders, governments, banks, businesses, cities and countries.
Kensington Palace stressed last night that the awards are not just about inventing technology to tackle the problem. The Earthshot Prize could go to a ‘peoplepowered’ moment protecting an area of essential rainforest, for example, or a major city or country that realises net zero greenhouse gas emissions.
Launching the initiative, William said: ‘The plan is to galvanise and bring together the best minds, the best possible solutions, to fixing and tackling some of the greatest environmental challenges.
‘We’ve got to harness our ingenuity and our ability to invent. The next ten years are a critical decade for change. Time is of the essence, which is why we believe this very ambitious global prize is the only way forward.’
In a interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme to be broadcast today, he added: ‘I felt very much that there’s a lot of people wanting to do many good things for the environment and what they need is a bit of a catalyst, a bit of hope, a bit of positivity that we can actually fix what’s being presented.
‘I think that urgency with optimism creates action. And so the Earthshot Prize is really about harnessing that optimism and that urgency to find solutions to some of the world’s greatest environmental problems.
‘We believe this decade is one of the most crucial decades for the environment and by 2030 we hope to have made huge strides in fixing some of the biggest problems the Earth faces.’
Every year from 2021 until 2030, William, alongside the Earthshot Prize Council, which covers six continents, will award the £1million prize to each of five winners.
They will be handed out in a ceremony in a different city across the globe, starting with London next autumn, Covid-19 permitting.
The project has been organised personally by William and the Royal Foundation of the Duke and
Duchess of Cambridge. Those putting up funding and expertise include the Aga Khan Development Network, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Dubai Expo 2020, the Jack Ma Foundation, Marc and Lynne Benioff, and the Paul G Allen Family Foundation.
A source said: ‘While we hesitate to use the word epiphany, the duke has realised that he has a role to play and that now is the time to play it.’
A series of five short films will be released online today, highlighting each Earthshot goal.
‘A critical decade for change’