- Winners and Finalists of the first Earthshot Prize Awards feature at the World Leaders Summit in Plenary Hall at COP26
- Prince William and 15-year-old Finalist, Vinisha Umashankar, address leaders during key meeting
- Follows event hosted by Michael R. Bloomberg for Winners, Finalists, Prize Council Members and the Earthshot Prize Global Alliance
GLASGOW, Scotland – Prince William and the first-ever Winners and Finalists of The Earthshot Prize today featured at a key meeting of World Leaders at the COP26 Climate Change Conference, highlighting the need for global innovation and collective action to repair our planet in this decisive decade.
Created by Prince William and The Royal Foundation, The Earthshot Prize led an unprecedented global search for the most inspiring and innovative solutions to the greatest environmental challenges facing the planet. Following the inaugural Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony on Sunday 17th October in London, the Finalists and Winners have come together for the first time in-person at COP26 in Glasgow.
Prince William and the Winners and Finalists took part in the World Leaders Summit, hosted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson where Heads of State and Government leaders assembled to deliver national plans to tackle climate change.
Attending the Leaders’ event ‘Accelerating Clean Technology Innovation and Deployment’, Prince William delivered a speech in which he introduced the Winners and Finalists to the assembled leaders and called for further support for innovation to repair the planet. He was joined on stage by India- based 15-year-old Earthshot Prize Finalist, Vinisha Umashankar, who invented a solar-powered ironing cart that replaces dirty charcoal with clean energy from the sun. In a powerful speech updating President John F. Kennedy’s Moonshot speech for a new generation, she invited world leaders, international organisations, civil society, and business leaders to stand with her generation and back the innovations, solutions and projects working to repair the planet and join the next generation in taking action.
Prince William said:
“Two weeks ago in London, we announced the first five Winners of The Earthshot Prize and awarded each £1 million to scale their solutions. Our Finalists are bursting with energy, ideas and ambition, so please expect many of them to come knocking on your doors! Their ingenuity is amazing. Their potential is off the charts. It’s my pleasure to introduce you to the real superstars in this room today.”
Vinisha Umashankar said:
“We, The Earthshot Prize winners and finalists choose to, by the end of this decade, to protect and restore our nature, clean our air, revive our oceans, build a waste-free world and fix our climate. We are the proof that the greatest challenge the history of our Earth has ever seen is also the greatest opportunity. We lead the greatest wave of innovation that humanity has ever known. We choose not to complain, but to take actions that will make us healthier and wealthier. We choose to do these things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard. Rising to these challenges will shape a new generation. A generation that will build a better world for all of us and generations to come.”
During the Summit, the Winner and Finalists of the Fix our Climate Earthshot displayed their ground- breaking environmental solutions in front of Heads of State and Government delegations. This included Thailand / Italy / Germany-based AEM Electrolyser from Enapter, who were awarded one of the first-ever Earthshot Prize medals and £1 million last month for their ingenious green hydrogen technology that has the power to transform how we power our homes and buildings and fuel our transport. Also on display were solutions from Bangladesh-based Finalist SOLbazaar who showcased the technology behind the world’s first peer-to-peer energy exchange network and Reeddi Capsules for their solar-powered energy capsule which is transforming clean energy across Nigeria.
Following the event, The Earthshot Prize Finalists will meet with Heads of State and Government representatives from their respective countries including Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, and Prime Minister of the Bahamas Philip Davis.
Earlier in the day, Global Advisor to The Earthshot Prize Winners, Michael R. Bloomberg, hosted an Earthshot Prize Global Alliance Assembly reception in the Green Zone of COP26. This was the first time The Earthshot Prize Finalists met with some of the Global Alliance and Prize Council Members including Christiana Figueres, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, and Luisa Neubauer in person. The Global Alliance are an unprecedented network of philanthropists, NGOs and some of the world’s biggest companies and brands representing 3.6 million employees globally that together will help support and scale the innovative and ground-breaking solutions developed by the fifteen Earthshot Prize Finalists.
Tomorrow, Wednesday 3rd November, Earthshot Prize Finalists will participate in an interactive event for local Scottish school students (aged 10-14). The Finalists will meet and be interviewed by young climate champions representing Generation Earthshot – an educational initiative delivered by World’s Largest Lesson team in partnership with The Earthshot Prize and The Royal Foundation – to find out more about Finalists’ and how they came up with solutions to repair the planet. The event takes place between 9:30am – 11:00am GMT and can be viewed live here: https://youtu.be/tw_QE8TsUy0.
