The Earthshot Prize Council is a global team of influencers from a broad range of sectors. Each member of our council is passionately committed to championing positive action in the environmental space.
Each year, The Earthshot Prize Council will select the five winners of The Earthshot Prize in a judging session led by Christiana Figueres, Chair of The Earthshot Prize.
Founder and President
Prince William has long been an advocate for protecting our environment. He has led international efforts to crack down on the illegal wildlife trade through United for Wildlife, helped deliver an ivory ban in the UK and continues to support many global initiatives that focus on conservation.
He believes that the next ten years are critical in our fight to protect the planet. That’s why, in 2020, he launched The Earthshot Prize after two years of work with The Royal Foundation, to develop a landmark project supporting the global effort to protect and restore the environment.
Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah is an international human rights advocate whose work focuses on education, cross-cultural dialogue, and finding innovative solutions to the world’s greatest challenges.
A mother of four, Her Majesty has won international recognition for her efforts to shed light on the global plight of refugees and to promote acceptance between people of all cultures. Through her position on their boards, Queen Rania contributes to the work of the United Nations Foundation (UNF) and the World Economic Forum (WEF).
She is also UNICEF’s first Eminent Advocate for Children, a member of the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) Board of Advisors, and a recipient of several international awards for her humanitarian work.
Cate Blanchett is an internationally acclaimed and multi-award-winning actress, producer, humanitarian, and dedicated member of the arts community.
In recognition of her continued advocacy for the arts and support of humanitarian and environmental causes, Blanchett has been awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia in the General Division; the Centenary Medal for Service to Australian Society; the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres; the Stanley Kubrick Award for Excellence in Film; and the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Award for expanding the roles of women in film.
She is a Global Goodwill Ambassador for the UNHCR, The UN Refugee Agency, and was honoured with the Crystal Award at the 2018 World Economic Forum in Davos.
She is also a Patron of the Sydney Film Festival; an Ambassador for the Australian Film Institute and The Old Vic theatre; a BFI Fellow; and a Lifetime Ambassador for the Australian Conservation Foundation. Blanchett holds Honorary Doctorates of Letters from the University of New South Wales, the University of Sydney, and Macquarie University.
British broadcaster, writer, and naturalist, Sir David Attenborough, is best known for his innovative and educational television programmes focussed on the natural world.
His broadcasting career spans over 50 years and has seen Sir David visit every continent on the globe, documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder. He has made and presented numerous landmark natural history series, including the iconic programmes Life on Earth, The Living Planet, Planet Earth, Blue Planet and Our Planet.
Amongst many other accolades, Sir David was knighted for services to broadcasting in 1985.
Ernest Gibson is a youth climate activist from Fiji who currently sits on the 7-member United Nations Secretary General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change as the only Pacific Island representative.
Ernest has worked in climate change projects across the Pacific, supporting community-led approaches to Climate Diplomacy and climate policy development. He works as a communications and development professional and has worked for development cooperation agencies like the European Union and INGOs like Oxfam.
Ernest has a particular interest in development communications around bridging the gap between communities and the broader development sector, through circular communications and community engagement practices.
Ernest now works as a technical officer in Risk Communication and Community Engagement at the World Health Organization’s Western Pacific Office.
Prior to joining the WHO, Ernest worked for the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office, coordinating the Public Outreach component of the UN75 Campaign and supporting digital communications for the UN in the Pacific, across 10 countries.
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim is an environmental activist and member of Chad’s pastoralist Mbororo community.
She is a member of the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC) and served as co-chair of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change during the historic Paris climate conference.
Hindou began advocating for indigenous rights and environmental protection at age 16, founding the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad (AFPAT) to build sustainable ecosystems and reduce nature-based resource conflicts.
Her work with indigenous communities at the local and global level has achieved broad recognition and support including, the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award; the 2020 Refugees International Holbrooke Award; the Daniel Mitterrand Prize; appointment as a UN SDG Advocate, Conservation International Lui-Walton Senior Fellow; and National Geographic Explorer Hindou’s TED talk on Indigenous knowledge meets science to solve climate change has surpassed more than 1 million views.
Indra Nooyi is the former Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo (2006-2019); a Fortune 50 company with operations in over 180 countries.
In this role, Mrs. Nooyi was the chief architect of Performance with Purpose, PepsiCo’s pledge to do what’s right for the business by being responsive to the needs of the world around us. As part of Performance with Purpose, PepsiCo was focused on delivering sustained growth by making more nutritious products, reducing its environmental footprint and protecting the planet, and empowering its associates and people in the communities it serves. During her tenure, PepsiCo grew net revenue by more than 80%, and PepsiCo’s total shareholder return was 162%.
Mrs. Nooyi has received many prizes, accolades and honorary degrees over the years. In 2007, the Government of India awarded her the Padma Bhushan, the country’s 3rd highest civilian honour. In 2007, she was named an “Outstanding American by Choice” by the US State Department. In 2019, her portrait was inducted into the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.
Jack Ma founded Alibaba Group in 1999 and served as executive chairman of Alibaba Group from 1999 to September 2019. He served as chief executive officer of Alibaba Group from 1999 to May 2013.
Jack currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum, president of the General Association of Zhejiang Entrepreneurs and chairman of the China Entrepreneur Club. He has been appointed by the United Nations Secretary General António Guterres as co-chair of the UN High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation since 2018.
Jack also serves as a Global Board Member of The Nature Conservancy and is co-chair of the Paradise Foundation.
Luisa Neubauer, born in Hamburg in 1996, is one of the co-organisers of the climate strike movement and a prominent representative of the German movement in the media.
In 2018 she met the Swedish student Greta Thunberg at the UN Climate Change Conference and then started the movement in Germany together with other activists. Since then, Luisa Neubauer has met various heads of state and government and participated in the world climate conference in Madrid and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
In January 2020, Luisa Neubauer protested together with Fridays for Future against Siemens’ participation in the planned Australian hard coal mine Carmichael and met Joe Kaeser several times.
Luisa Neubauer completed a bachelor’s degree in Geography in 2019. She is currently studying resource analysis and management as a master at the Georg-August University in Göttingen.
Together with Alexander Repenning, she published the book “From the End of the Climate Crisis – a Story of our Future” in 2019. She is the host of the Spotify Original Podcast “1.5 Grad” (1.5 degrees) and writes a column for the German magazine “Stern”. Luisa Neubauer lives in Berlin.
Photo Credit: Oguz Yilmaz
Yamazaki earned a Master of Engineering degree from University of Tokyo in 1996, then started working for Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
In 1999, she was selected as an astronaut candidate and was qualified as a Soyuz-TMA Flight Engineer in 2004 and NASA Mission Specialist in 2006.
On April 5, 2010 Yamazaki was onboard Space Shuttle Discovery on the crew of STS-131, an assembly & resupply mission to the International Space Station.
After retiring from JAXA in 2011, Yamazaki has been serving as a member of the Space Policy Committee of the Cabinet Office, and devoting herself to space education as an adviser of the Young Astronaut Club and a chairperson of “Sorajo (women in aerospace)” under the Japanese Rocket Society. As space education emphasizes the sustainability of the Earth, Yamazaki served as an official supporter of Education for Sustainable Development in 2014 and contributed to the round table of studying energy situations in 2017-2018.
To create an ecosystem in space as well as on Earth, Yamazaki co-founded Space Port Japan Association in 2018 and is serving as its representative director.
Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is an economist and international development expert with over 30 years of experience.
Dr Okonjo-Iweala served twice as Nigeria’s Finance Minister, from 2003-2006, 2011-2015, and briefly as Foreign Minister, the first woman to hold both positions. She is Chair of the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and of the African Risk Capacity (ARC). She is Co-Chair of The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate.
She also sits on the Boards of Standard Chartered PLC and Twitter Inc. Dr Okonjo-Iweala was recently appointed as AU Special Envoy to mobilise international financial support for the fight against COVID-19 and WHO Special Envoy for Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator.
She has been ranked by Fortune as one of the 50 Greatest World Leaders in 2015, by Forbes as one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the World consecutively for four years, by Time as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2014, and by the UK Guardian as one of the Top 100 Women in the World in 2011.
Stella McCartney was born in London to a family of creators who were legendary in public, yet ordinary at home. Raised in both the city and the English countryside, she was kept grounded by her late mother and muse, Linda McCartney – a photographer, vegetarian and animal rights activist whose values and innate appreciation for beauty continue to inspire her today.
She graduated from Central St Martins in 1995, becoming immediately known for her womenswear’s sharp tailoring, bold aesthetics and masculine energy. By 1997, Stella was appointed the Creative Director of Chloe in Paris, leading the house to critical and commercial success.
In 2001, Stella McCartney launched her eponymous luxury fashion house and showed her first collection in Paris that October. A lifelong vegetarian, Stella has never used leather, feathers, skin or fur in any of her designs since day one – a revolutionary stance both then and now. Since those first seeds were planted, the brand has continued to grow its sustainability thought leadership through material and supply chain innovation, partnerships and beyond.
Yao Ming has been enthusiastically involved in philanthropic and public service work since his early days as a professional basketball player. He has leveraged his celebrity influence to promote environmental and conservation causes. His most notable work involves being an active conservation ambassador in partnership with Wildaid in its global campaigns to protect sharks, and to end illegal wildlife trade in ivory tusks and rhino horns. In 2008, Yao Ming was named by UNEP as its first-ever Environmental Champion.
Yao Ming is the founder of Yao Ming Foundation, dedicated to bringing physical education and team sports to children of rural China. He is also a Global Ambassador for Special Olympics.
Yao Ming is a three-time Olympian, and he is also the first Asian player inducted into Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame after an illustrious career as an NBA player. In 2017 Yao Ming was elected unanimously as the Chairman of China National Basketball Association.
