The first winners of the Earthshot Prize have been announced

The first-ever winners of Prince William's Earthshot Prize have been announced to the public

The Earthshot Prize is an initiative created by Prince William to incentivize change and help to repair our planet over the next ten years.

The aim of the award is primarily to encourage the brightest and best minds around to work on solutions to the growing environmental crisis. Five, one million-pound prizes will be awarded each year for the next ten years, providing at least 50 solutions to the world’s greatest environmental problems by 2030.

Speaking about the award, Prince William said “The Earth is at a tipping point and we face a stark choice: either we continue as we are and irreparably damage our planet, or we remember our unique power as human beings and our continual ability to lead, innovate and problem-solve. People can achieve great things. The next ten years present us with one of our greatest tests – a decade of action to repair the Earth.”

The inaugural award ceremony for the Earthshot Prize was held last weekend at the Alexandra Palace in London. Celebrities and activists took to the red carpet to mark to occasion.

 Emma Watson, Emma Thompson and David Oyelowo were tasked with handing out the awards, along with the Duchess of Cambridge.

Prince William recorded a video to be shown before the awards. In the clip, he said “We are alive in the most consequential time in human history. The actions we choose or choose not to take in the next 10 years will determine the fate of the planet for the next thousand. A decade doesn’t seem long, but humankind has an outstanding record of being able to solve the unsolvable … The future is ours to determine. And if we set our minds to it, nothing is impossible.”

I want to say something to all the young people watching tonight:

For too long, we haven’t done enough to protect the planet for your future.

But Earthshot is for you.

In the next ten years we are going to act. We are going to find the solutions to repair our planet. pic.twitter.com/sDHwUn7FSn

— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) October 17, 2021

The Winners

The Republic of Costa Rica picked up the “protect and restore nature” award for its efforts to protect forests, plant trees and restore ecosystems.

The 'Clean Our Air' award was given to an Indian company called Takachar who created a cheap and easily-made device that is designed to help end the burning of agricultural waste.

A coral farm called Coral Vita were awarded for their efforts in restoring coral reefs around the world through growing coral in tanks.

The northern Italian city of Milan won the “food waste hubs” award as the first major city to enforce a city-wide food waste policy to recover food from local supermarkets and restaurants and distribute it to citizens in need.

Finally, the “fix our climate” award went to a joint Thai-German-Italian team for the AEM Electrolyzer, which uses renewable energy to make clean hydrogen by splitting water into its constituent elements. All of the winners will be provided with the support needed to further develop and fund their projects.