Acción Andina, GRST, WildAid Marine Program, S4S Technologies, and Boomitra are named 2023 Winners and will each receive a catalytic £1 million prize to support efforts to scale their innovative climate and environmental solutions
The ceremony airs globally on BBC, PBS, MultiChoice, and other international broadcast channels from Sunday 12 November
Tonight, at The Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony in Singapore, Prince William and The Earthshot Prize named Acción Andina, GRST, WildAid Marine Program, S4S Technologies, and Boomitra the 2023 Winners of The Earthshot Prize.
During the ceremony, these five accomplished Winners, chosen from among the 15 innovators and entrepreneurs named as 2023 Earthshot Prize Finalists, were each awarded a catalytic £1 million prize to help scale their solutions and accelerate their growth and impact. The work of this third cohort of Earthshot Prize Winners spans the globe, protecting and restoring the environment and supporting local communities across six continents.
Hosted by Emmy Award winner Hannah Waddingham and three-time Emmy winning actor and producer Sterling K. Brown, and filmed at the Mediacorp Theatre in Singapore, the awards ceremony spotlighted the inspiring stories of all of the 15 Finalists eligible for this year’s Prize, and featured performances from some of the world’s most exciting artists and performers, including Bastille, OneRepublic, and Bebe Rexha. Cate Blanchett, Lana Condor, Robert Irwin, Nomzamo Mbatha, and Donnie Yen were also on hand to present the five awards.
Beginning Sunday 12 November, The Earthshot Prize Awards will be broadcast on the BBC in the United Kingdom, PBS in the United States, various MultiChoice channels across Africa, Mediacorp’s Channel 5, mewatch and Mediacorp YouTube Entertainment Channel in Singapore, and on The Earthshot Prize’s YouTube channel in other territories around the world.
Following a rigorous selection process focused on identifying the most inspirational, impactful and inclusive solutions, the five Winners are:
“The last year has been one of great change and even greater challenge. A year in which the effects of the climate crisis have become too visible to be ignored. And a year that has left so many feeling defeated, their hope, dwindling. However, as we have seen tonight, hope does remain. The light of optimism is burning bright in our Earthshot Finalists. From Boomitra, S4S, and Acción Andina, to GRST and WildAid Marine Program, our Winners and all our Finalists remind us that, no matter where you are on our planet, the spirit of ingenuity, and the ability to inspire change, surrounds us all.”
Prince William, Founder and President of The Earthshot Prize
Florent Kaiser, Chief Executive Officer, Global Forest Generation said: “In just five years, Global Forest Generation has grown Acción Andina to become one of the largest ecosystem restoration initiatives in South America. The support and recognition from The Earthshot Prize affirms our commitment to building climate change resiliency among communities most impacted by ecosystem loss. We aim to continue scaling and sustaining Acción Andina, while also replicating its community-driven model globally. We will prioritize regions with critically endangered and neglected ecosystems and vulnerable populations of people and wildlife that are essential to climate change resilience.”
Frank Harley, Chief Strategy Officer, GRST, said: “We are honored to be part of The Earthshot Prize’s powerful platform for change. The world needs a massive amount of batteries to achieve Net Zero by 2050, but a revolution is needed to make these batteries cleaner and more recyclable. Today, our water-based technology is driving this transformation to provide consumers with sustainable energy future.”
Meaghan Brosnan, Chief Operating Officer, WildAid said, “We are thrilled, honored, and humbled to receive the 2023 Earthshot Prize to Revive Our Oceans. WildAid’s Marine Programme is making the promise of marine protected areas and sustainable fisheries real by filling a critical global gap: law enforcement capacity. Fundamentally, this honor recognizes the hard work our hundreds of dedicated local partners are doing to ensure the Earth’s oceans are healthy and vibrant for future generations. Winning the Earthshot Prize is an important milestone in our program’s path to scale from 96 to 250 marine areas by 2028, and will create effective enforcement with our partners to allow fisheries, marine wildlife, coral reefs, blue carbon habitats, and coastal communities to thrive.”
Nidhi Pant, Co-Founder, S4S Technologies, said: “S4S, along with women farmers, are creating a new food ecosystem that reduces wastage and mitigates the increase in GHG emissions while meeting the world’s food needs. With empowered women farmers taking leadership to fight climate change by ensuring food security, increasing incomes, creating jobs, boosting local economies, and advocating with the government, women farmers have emerged as key-partners in driving lasting impact. We are honored to be recognised by the Earthshot Prize. We aim to create a waste-free food system and to transform lives of millions of women farmers.”
Aadith Moorthy, Founder and CEO, Boomitra, said: “On behalf of the Boomitra family, I’m deeply honored and humbled to accept the Earthshot Prize. This prize is a recognition of the hard work and dedication of our partners on the ground, the Boomitra team, and all the farmers we work with, who work every single day towards moving the needle on climate change.”
Beginning in December 2022, The Earthshot Prize embarked on a global, nine-month search for the most inspiring and innovative solutions to the greatest environmental challenges facing the planet. A global panel of 59 scientific, academic, and subject-matter experts chose this year’s class of 15 Prize Finalists from more than 1,100 nominations submitted from around the world. All nominations were independently vetted by The Earthshot Prize’s implementation partners at Deloitte.
The five Winners were selected by Prince William and the prestigious Earthshot Prize Council. Chaired by Christiana Figueres DBE, Chair of The Earthshot Prize Board of Trustees and architect of the Paris Agreement, the Prize Council is a global body of activists, experts, and influencers committed to championing urgent and innovative action to protect the climate and our natural environment.
Members of The Earthshot Prize Council include: Prince William, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, Cate Blanchett, Sir David Attenborough, Ernest Gibson, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Jack Ma, Indra Nooyi, Luisa Neubauer, Naoko Yamazaki, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Stella McCartney and Yao Ming.
In addition to the Prize’s investment in the five Winners, all 15 Finalists will receive mentorship, resources, and technical support from The Earthshot Prize Fellowship Programme, a year-long programme to accelerate the growth of their groundbreaking solutions. That support includes access to the Prize’s robust network of influential businesses, investors, and climate experts, including The Earthshot Prize’s Global Alliance of Partners, comprised of some of the world’s largest businesses, donors, investors, and environmental organizations committed to climate action.
The Earthshot Prize is already looking ahead to the 2024 Earthshot Prize. Nominations for the Prize’s fourth cohort of innovations and entrepreneurs is now open and close on 15 December.
See the full list of nominators accepting applications here.
