The Earthshot Prize is awarded to five winners whose innovations tackle the issues of conservation, air quality, our oceans, waste and climate change. Founded by Prince William and the Royal Foundation in 2020 to bring ‘urgency and ambition’ to solving today’s environmental problems, the annual prize was inspired by then-president John F Kennedy’s 1962 Moonshot space-race challenge for the USA to land a man on the moon before the end of the decade.
For the Earthshot Prize, a high-profile panel of judges, including Sir David Attenborough, Cate Blanchett, Shakira and Christiana Figueres, the former head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, selected the five winners from fifteen finalists. Each winner won a prize of $1.2 million.
Protect and restore nature: Kheyti’s Greenhouse in a Box
Kheyti, an Indian startup, developed its greenhouse-in-a-box solution for smallholding farmers and the crops they grow, offering shelter from unpredictable elements and destructive pests. The modular greenhouse is 90% cheaper than a standard greenhouse, uses less water and fewer pesticides, and almost doubles the farmers’ incomes.
Clean our air: Mukuru Clean Stoves
Kenya-based Mukuru Clean Stoves offers an alternative to dangerous charcoal-burning stoves that emit harmful chemicals. With a design that uses processed biomass made from charcoal, wood and sugarcane, the stove emits 90% less pollution than an open fire and 70% less than a traditional cookstove.
Revive our oceans: Indigenous women rangers
The Queensland Indigenous Women Rangers Network trains women rangers to protect critical ecosystems like the Great Barrier Reef using a combination of ancient knowledge passed down from generation to generation, and modern tools such as drones.
Build a waste-free world: Notpla
London-based startup Notpla makes alternatives to plastic out of seaweed and plants. The natural and entirely biodegradable material can be used to create a range of packaging products, such as bubbles to hold liquids, food container coatings, and paper for the cosmetics and fashion industry.
Fix our climate: 44.01
UK-Omani company 44.01 permanently removes carbon dioxide (CO2) by mineralising it in peridotite, a rock found in abundance in Oman as well as in America, Europe, Asia and Australasia. Unlike carbon storage, which involves burying CO2 underground in disused oil wells or aquifers, this process removes the greenhouse gas for thousands of years.
Find out more about the winners on the Earthshot website https://inda.ba/3v1UsKo
Read more
Photograph: Earthshot.
