Ocean warming and acidification are a death sentence for the quarter of marine life who need them to survive. It will be a disaster, too, for the nearly billion human lives dependent on the valuable benefits reefs provide like jobs, food security, and shelter from storms.
A year after Sam Teicher and Gator Halpern launched Coral Vita’s first facility in Grand Bahama, Hurricane Dorian’s record-breaking storm surge destroyed their coral farm. The experience brought home the extent of the climate emergency and strengthened their resolve to protect our reefs.
Using an innovative commercial model to fund ecosystem-scale restoration, Coral Vita incorporate cutting-edge methods to grow coral up to 50 times faster than nature and improve their resilience to the impact of climate change.
Coral Vita was the winning solution for the 2021 Earthshot Prize Revive Our Oceans category. In the year since they won, Sam, Gator and the team have invested their Earthshot Prize prizemoney into financing their first major restoration off the coast of Grand Bahama where they have so far planted 6,000 coral fragments and counting. They have been able to scale up their personnel by hiring several key R&D team members, and purchased breakthrough lab equipment allowing year-round and predictable coral reproduction.
And, an additional £500,000 in funding from DP World means they are also now laying the foundations for the first-ever commercial land-based coral farm for restoration in the Middle East. They have been commissioned by a top university in that region to help design a new coral farm, and Earthshot Prize Global Alliance Member Deloitte has supported the development of their growth model with specific clarity on the scale proposition for potential customers and partners around the world. Ultimately, they envision a global network of large-scale coral farms helping kickstart a restoration economy and preserving ocean life for future generations.
The publicity associated with becoming Earthshot Prize Winners led to a major fundraising partnership to fund restoration with Corona Beer, Sam and Gator joined Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan and the Prince of Wales at Dubai Expo in 2022, and at The Earthshot Prize’s introduction took counsel from US Climate Envoy Sec. John Kerry.
By 2030, we choose to ensure that, for the first time in human history, the natural world is growing – not shrinking – on our planet.
This Earthshot focuses on three main areas of interest:
By 2030 we choose to ensure that everyone in the world breathes clean, healthy air – at World Health Organization standard or better.
This Earthshot focuses on three main areas of interest:
By 2030, we choose to repair and preserve our oceans for future generations.
This Earthshot focuses on three main areas of interest:
By 2030, we choose to build a world where nothing goes to waste, where the leftovers of one process become the raw materials of the next – just like they do in nature.
This Earthshot focuses on three main areas of interest:
We choose to fix the world’s climate by cutting out carbon: building a carbon neutral economy that lets every culture, community and country thrive.
This Earthshot focuses on three main areas of interest:
