Five Winners of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize Unveiled at Impactful Awards Ceremony

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Prince William and The Earthshot Prize revealed the 2022 prize winners, an accomplished group of entrepreneurs and innovators spearheading groundbreaking solutions to repair and regenerate the planet, were awarded a £1 million prize at the second-annual awards ceremony.

Inspired by President John F. Kennedy's Moonshot challenge in the 1960s, which united millions of people around the goal of putting a person on the moon within a decade, The Earthshot Prize aims to discover and help scale innovative solutions that put the world firmly on a trajectory toward a stable climate by 2030 – a world in which communities, oceans and biodiversity can thrive in harmony.


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Each year over the course of this critical decade for the planet, five winners will be chosen for their ground-breaking solutions to five of the greatest environmental challenges facing our planet. These five Earthshots are: Protect and Restore Nature; Clean our Air; Revive our Oceans; Build a Waste-free World; and Fix our Climate.

Speaking during the ceremony, The Prince of Wales said, "I believe that the Earthshot solutions you have seen this evening prove we can overcome our planet's greatest challenges. And by supporting and scaling them we can change our future. Alongside tonight's winners and finalists, and those to be discovered over the years to come, it's my hope the Earthshot legacy will continue to grow, helping our communities and our planet to thrive."


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Following a rigorous selection process focused on identifying the most inspirational, impactful, and inclusive solutions, the five 2022 winners are:

Clean our Air: Mukuru Clean Stoves, Kenya – A start-up providing cleaner-burning stoves to women in Kenya to reduce unhealthy indoor pollution and provide a safer way to cook.

Across Africa, 700 million people use solid fuel to cook on open fires and cookstoves that emit toxic chemicals and lack safeguards. As a result, accidents and air pollution kill four million people each year. Mukuru Clean Stoves offer an alternative by using processed biomass made from charcoal, wood, and sugarcane, rather than dangerous solid fuels. This burns cleaner, creating 90% less pollution than an open fire and 70% less than a traditional cookstove. They are cheaper too, costing just USD10 and halving ongoing fuel costs.

A female-founded business with mostly female staff and distribution agents, Mukuru is not only working to Clean our Air, but also empowering women to make a living by making a difference.

Protect and Restore Nature: Kheyti, India – A pioneering solution for local smallholder farmers to reduce costs, increase yields, and protect livelihoods in a country on the frontlines of climate change.

India is home to 100 million small-hold farmers, many of whom are impacted by severe impacts of climate change, including heatwaves and pests. Start-up Kheyti has developed a simple solution that is already having a considerable impact. Its Greenhouse-in-a-Box is designed for small-hold farmers and the crops they grow, offering shelter from unpredictable elements and destructive pests. Kheyti also trains and supports farmers to ensure their greenhouse is as effective as possible.

The results are dramatic. Plants in the greenhouses require 98% less water than those outdoors and yields are seven-times higher. 90% cheaper than standard greenhouses, Kheyti's solution is more than doubling farmers' incomes, helping them invest more in their farms and their families. Using less water and fewer pesticides, they are protecting the planet too. Today, 1,000 farms have a Kheyti greenhouse, and by 2027, Kheyti hopes they can reach 50,000 farmers with Greenhouse- in-a-Box.


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Revive our Oceans: Indigenous Women of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia – An inspiring women- led program that combines 60,000 years of indigenous knowledge with digital technologies to protect land and sea.

The Queensland Indigenous Women Rangers Network hold a huge amount of the indigenous wisdom, and over the past four years, have helped build the next generation of women rangers. The programme has trained over 60 women, encouraging new conservation approaches by sharing knowledge and telling stories. Members of the network have gone on to find work as rangers in Queensland or in conservation elsewhere.

The data they have collected has given us critical insight into one of the most important ecosystems on the planet. As custodians of the land, the rangers have also protected sites of great cultural and spiritual significance.

Build a Waste-free World: Notpla, United Kingdom – A circular solution creating an alternative to plastic packaging from seaweed.

London-based startup Notpla, founded by Pierre Paslier and Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez, believes that the future of packaging is not plastic, but seaweed. Notpla is a natural and bio-degradable plastic alternative made from seaweed and plants and can be used to create a range of packaging products, such as a bubble to hold liquids, a coating for food containers, and a paper for the cosmetic and fashion industry.

This year, Notpla has made over 1 million takeaway food boxes for JustEatTakeaway.com, and the company has the potential to replace over 100 million plastic coated containers in Europe in the future. The company is continuing to research and develop new formats and solutions, with flexible films and rigid materials in the pipeline.

Fix our Climate: 44.01, Oman - Created by childhood friends who have developed an innovative technique to turn CO2 into rock, and permanently store it underground.

Oman-based 44.01, named after the molecular weight of carbon dioxide, eliminates CO2 by turning it into rock, removing it from the atmosphere safely, efficiently, and permanently by mineralizing it in peridotite, a rock found in abundance in Oman, United States, Europe, Asia, and Australasia. Peridotite mineralization is a natural process, but in nature it can take many years to mineralize even a small amount of CO2. 44.01 accelerates the process by pumping carbonated water into seams of peridotite deep underground.

Unlike carbon 'storage', which involves burying CO2 underground in disused oilwells or aquifers, mineralization does not require long-term monitoring or insurance, and ultimately makes the process more cost-effective, scalable, and safer.

44.01's first project will mineralize 1,000 tonnes of locally captured CO2 every year until 2024. The company aims soon to expand its operations internationally, enabling local mineralization without requiring costly CO2 transportation. 44.01's goal is to have mineralized 1bn tonnes of CO2 by 2040.

Each of the winners' solutions excelled in the rigorous screening process following an assessment on their potential to create game-changing impact around the world, and their ability to help us reach our Earthshot goals while also positively impacting people, communities, and the natural world.

The final five winners were selected by The Earthshot Prize Council, a diverse team of influential individuals which include: HRH Prince William, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, Sir David Attenborough, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Indra Nooyi, Shakira Mebarak, Christiana Figueres, Luisa Neubauer, Cate Blanchett, Yao Ming, Daniel Alves Da Silva, Ernest Gibson, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Jack Ma, and Naoko Yamazaki.


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In its second year, The Earthshot Prize embarked upon an ambitious global nine-month search process, seeking out the most inspiring and innovative solutions to the greatest environmental challenges facing the planet. Over 1000 applications from around the world were considered, with 15 finalists from 10 countries chosen through a selection process supported by an expert advisory panel.

All 15 Finalists featured in the ceremony will receive tailored support from The Earthshot Prize Global Alliance, an unrivalled network of world-leading philanthropies, NGOs, and private sector businesses around the world who will help scale their solutions. Support could include access to resources across numerous professions including manufacturing, retail, supply chains, legal advice, digital technology, business strategy and government relations. The Earthshot Prize team is in discussions with all finalists about the support they need, which could include business strategy, further investment or advice on growing their leadership platforms.

The winners were connected to the incredible ceremony by a global broadcast, celebrating all 15 Earthshot Prize Finalists – each representing a ground-breaking solution to repair our planet. The Prince and Princess of Wales were joined by Earthshot Prize Council Members Christiana Figueres, Indra Nooyi, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, and Naoko Yamazaki, and a host of artists and advocates including Annie Lennox, Billie Eilish, Catherine O'Hara, Chloe x Halle, Clara Amfo, Daniel Dae Kim, David Beckham, Ellie Goulding, Rami Malek and Shailene Woodley.

The ceremony will air on Sunday, December 4 at 5:30pm GMT on BBC and will begin streaming from The Earthshot Prize YouTube channel later that evening. In the U.S., it will begin streaming at 2:00pm EST on Monday, December 5 on PBS.org and the PBS App and at 8:00pm EST on the PBS YouTube channel. Across Africa, the ceremony will premiere on Multichoice channels on Monday, December 5 at 17:00 WAT. PBS will also broadcast the event on Wednesday, December 14 at 8:00pm EST (check local listings). (All times subject to change).

Earthshot is looking forward to nominations for next year's 2023 Prize, which open on Monday on December 5, 2022.


Winners' Quotes

Mukuru Clean Stoves Founder and CEO, Charlot Magayi said:

"It is a great honour to receive this recognition from the Earthshot Prize. In 2017, I set out to help women in Mukuru reduce household air pollution. 5 years later, 200,000 households in Kenya use our stoves and The Earthshot Prize is going to help us reach 1 million households, enabling 5 million people to benefit from cleaner air and putting us so much closer to achieving our goal of eradicating household air pollution.

"To the Mukuru Clean Stoves team, for your dedication to providing access to better cooking technology and helping clean our air, congratulations! Let us work together to Clean Our Air."


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Kheyti Greenhouse-in-a-Box Co-Founder and CEO, Kaushik Kappagantulu said:

"The idea of Kheyti started from a simple dream – that the hard work of half a billion farmers across the world should pay off. The only reason our vision persevered is because others shared that dream – our team, our families and most importantly, our 1,000+ farmers who took a chance with us. Congratulations to all of THEM.

"This is just the beginning. We aim to help a million farmers within 10 years, and this prize will help us invest in a solid foundation for that ambition. Thank you for helping us ignite the smart farmer revolution!"

Queensland Indigenous Women Rangers Network Founder Larissa Hale said:

"This prize is a game changer. We are going to create a global groundswell of First Nations female-led conservation programs, a network of women coming together to help repair the planet fueled by ancient knowledge and new technology. Our planet needs us, and it isn't too late. The message of Earthshot is that with hope and action, we can feel hopeful for the future of our planet."


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Notpla Co-Founder Pierre Paslier said:

"I want to start by thanking the amazing Notpla team who've been working so hard to make our innovation come to life and everyone else who's supported us along this journey. I'd also like to thank The Earthshot Prize for creating such a great platform and believing in our solution.

"When Rodrigo and I started Notpla 8 years ago in our student kitchen, we would have never imagined we would be here today. No one wants to live in a world full of plastic waste but it's not too late to act. There's never been a greater time to use natural solutions to solve the plastic challenge."


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44.01 Founder, Carbon General and CEO Talal Hasan said:

"This is a proud moment for all of us here at 44.01 and I'd like to say a massive thank you to the whole team and to everyone who has supported us along the way. We started 44.01 two years ago because we saw the very real impact of climate change here in Oman.

"Winning The Earthshot Prize will help us scale our solution around the world, and ultimately eliminate billions of tonnes of CO2. Climate change is the greatest challenge we have ever faced but being part of this amazing group of finalists give us hope. Thank you to Earthshot for encouraging our knowledge and progress in this vital fight."

For more information: www.earthshotprize.org.


Founded by Prince William and The Royal Foundation in 2020, The Earthshot Prize is a global environmental prize to discover, accelerate and scale ground-breaking eco-solutions to repair and regenerate the planet. Inspired by President John F. Kennedy's Moonshot, which united millions of people around the goal of reaching the moon, The Earthshot Prize aims to catalyze an Earthshot challenge to urgently encourage and scale innovative solutions that can help put the world firmly on a trajectory towards a stable climate, where communities, oceans and biodiversity thrive in harmony by 2030. The five challenges are: Protect and Restore Nature; Clean our Air; Revive our Oceans; Build a Waste-free World; and Fix our Climate.


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The Prize aims to turn the current pessimism surrounding environmental issues into optimism but championing inspiring leadership and helping to scale incredible cutting-edge solutions. It will discover 50 winners over 10 years with the power to repair the planet. More than a prize, The Earthshot Prize works in partnership with a Global Alliance of Partners to support the scaling of the solutions discovered and selected each year.

The Global Alliance Founding Partners are a group of leading global organizations and philanthropists which act as strategic funding partners to the Prize, including Aga Khan Development Network, Bezos Earth Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Breakthrough Energy Foundation, Coleman Family Ventures, DP World in partnership with Dubai EXPO 2020, Eleven Eleven Foundation, Holch Povlsen Foundation, Jack Ma Foundation, Legado Para A Juventude, Marc and Lynne Benioff, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and Rob & Melani Walton Foundation.

Global Alliance Partners are non-profit environment and sustainable development organizations that bring expertise, global reach and serve as nominating organizations each year. For full list see website: Global Alliance - Earthshot Prize

Global Alliance Members are some of the world's largest and most influential companies and brands who will support The Earthshot Prize, implement ambitious changes within their businesses and accelerate the advancement of the solutions of Prize Finalists and Winners. They are: Arup, Bloomberg L.P., Deloitte, Herbert Smith Freehills, Hitachi, Ingka Group (IKEA), Microsoft, The Multichoice Group, Natura &Co, Safaricom, Salesforce, Unilever, Vodacom Group, Walmart.


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New for 2022, The Earthshot Prize is launching its Fellowship Programme, in partnership with IDEO. The Fellowship is a unique accelerator designed to help Finalists grow their solutions by unlocking new routes to market, finance, and major partnerships. Leading global design company IDEO crafted the Fellowship to ensure all fifteen Finalists are aided to maximize their impact through ambitious collaborations with The Earthshot Prize Global Alliance of 45 businesses, NGOs, and philanthropists.

Process for Allocating Prize Funding

During the nomination and Finalist selection process, each Nominee included an outline of what winning The Earthshot Prize would enable for their solution in terms of scaling the reach and impact of their work. Each of the 15 Finalists were then invited onto our Fellowship programme where these ambitions were discussed in detail with The Earthshot Prize team as part of planning tailored support for each Finalist over the course of the coming year.


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Following the announcement of the Prize Winners, The Earthshot Prize team will work with the Winners to develop bespoke agreements that set out the grant that the Foundation is awarding, the activity it can be used to support and the reporting requirements and demonstrable impact we expect over the grant period. Each grant will be expected to show impact towards the relevant Earthshot for which the Prize has been awarded.

Grant awards will be made in line with UK Charity Law and will require ongoing monitoring, evaluation and reporting to ensure being used as expected. The Board of The Earthshot Prize will have final approval and sign off over grant agreements.

The Earthshot Prize Council

The Prize is backed by The Earthshot Prize Council, a truly global team of influential individuals from a wide range of different sectors, all of whom are committed to championing positive action in the environmental space. Every year from 2021 until 2030, The Earthshot Prize Council will award The Earthshot Prize to five Winners, one per Earthshot.


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They are:

His Royal Highness Prince William;

Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah (Jordan);

Cate Blanchett – actor, producer, and humanitarian (Australia);

Christiana Figueres – co-founder of Global Optimism and former UN Climate Chief responsible for delivery of the landmark Paris Agreement on Climate Change (Costa Rica);

Dani Alves – professional footballer (Brazil);

Sir David Attenborough – broadcaster and natural historian (UK);

Ernest Gibson – community activist (Fiji);

Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim – environmental activist (Chad);

Indra Nooyi – business executive and former Chairman & CEO of PepsiCo (US & India);

Jack Ma – philanthropist, entrepreneur and UNSDG Advocate (China);

Luisa Neubauer – climate justice activist (Germany);

Naoko Yamazaki – former astronaut onboard the International Space Station (Japan);

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala – Director-General World Trade Organization (Nigeria);

Shakira Mebarak – singer and philanthropist (Colombia);

Yao Ming - Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer and environmentalist (China).

The Earthshot Expert Advisory Panel

A shortlist of nominations is assessed by an Expert Advisory Panel, who make recommendations on the Prize Winners to the Prize Council. The Expert Advisory Panel is a crucial stage in the selection process that adds a further layer of independence and rigor, bringing together expertise from science, conservation, innovation, investment, economics, politics, communications, and activism. This extensive and varied experience allows the panel to make an informed and holistic assessment on the diverse set of Finalists and advise on which nominations will have the greatest impact and should, therefore, be awarded The Earthshot Prize.


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The Expert Advisory Panel for 2022 is made up of 13 experts from a range of sectors: Annette Lendal, Antha Williams, Bezawit Eshetu, Bruno Pozzi, Daniela V Fernandez, David Booth, Li Lin, Ma Jun, Malaika Vaz, Melati Wijsen, Michael Brauer, Sergio De Carvalho, Tom Rivett-Carnac.