Prince William announces winners of £1m Earthshot prizes at star-studded ceremony

The Prince of Wales said future generations will look back on this decade as the decisive moment as he announced the winners of his Earthshot Prize

Prince William says future generations will look back on this decade as the moment we chose to protect our planet.

He was speaking in Singapore where he unveiled the next five winners of his Earthshot Prize at an award ceremony attended by celebrities, actors, singers and leading politicians.

Each winner is being handed a prize pot of £1 million to scale up their projects to protect the planet in five key areas: Restore Nature, Clean Air, Revive Oceans, Waste-free World and Fix the Climate.

Two British companies were in the final 15 but didn’t get through to the last five.

Prince William and Cate arrived on the green (not red) carpet at the start of the award ceremony.

It was Cate Blanchett with the prince, not his wife, Kate. The Princess of Wales has stayed in the UK to help Prince George with a week of school exams.

Blanchett was one of a number of stars at the event alongside hosts Hannah Waddingham and Sterling K Brown, singer Bebe Rexha and the groups One Republic and Bastille.

The former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also arrived on the green carpet. She has recently joined the Earthshot Prize Council alongside Sir David Attenborough and Cate Blanchett – who chose the five winners.

The winners ranged from a group in the Andes, who work to protect the forests, a Hong Kong firm which recycles lithium car batteries, and a global non-profit organisation protecting the oceans and combatting illegal fishing.

Prince William spoke after all the winners had been announced.

He said: “I choose to believe that future generations will look back on this decade as the point at which we globally took collective action for our planet.

"The moment we refused to accept the voices of denial and defeatism, and instead, became the architects of change towards a healthy and sustainable world.”

William and the Earthshot organisers defended the decision to fly the stars, the performers and all the finalists to the award ceremony saying they have the potential to reach as many people as possible through their followers and encourage people to change their behaviour.

Singapore was chosen as it is the gateway to Asia, it is home to a financial centre which is already incentivising green investment and Singapore is one of the most sustainable cities in the world.

After ceremonies in London in 2021, Boston, USA in 2022 and Singapore in 2023, there are now 15 winners who have been given the £1 million prize.

The Earthshot Awards will run until 2030.

Prince William told the audience at Singapore Mediacope Theatre: “We owe it to the generations that will follow us to work together both for their future, and for the future of our planet.

Earlier in the day, he spoke of how the existing Earthshot winners are already making a difference to the oceans, to cleaning air and cutting carbon.

Prince William explains how previous Earthshot winners are already making a difference globally

All the guests and attendees were asked to make sustainable choices with clothes.

Host Hannah Waddingham said her dress was “pre-loved”, Jaconda Ardern said she has borrowed her dress and Prince William was in a blazer by Alexander McQueen that has been in his wardrobe for 10 years.

Who were the winners?

Protect and Restore Nature: Acción Andina, The Andes Mountains, South America - Acción Andina is a grassroots, community-based initiative working across South America to protect native high Andean forest ecosystems for their invaluable benefits to nature and millions of people in the region.

Clean Our Air: GRST, Hong Kong, China - With the development of a new way to build and recycle vital lithium-ion batteries, GRST’s solution offers a pathway to make the electric cars of the future even cleaner.

Revive Our Oceans: WildAid Marine Program, - Global non-profit organization WildAid scales marine enforcement to end illegal fishing and strengthen ocean conservation.

Build A Waste-Free World: S4S Technologies, India - S4S Technologies’ solar-powered dryers and processing equipment to combat food waste, enabling small-hold farmers to preserve crops and turn produce that might otherwise go to waste into valuable products.

Fix Our Climate: Boomitra - Boomitra is removing emissions and boosting farmer profits by incentivising land restoration through a verified carbon-credit marketplace.

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