GLASGOW, SCOTLAND — Prince William and the first-ever winners and finalists of the Earthshot Prize on Tuesday, November 2, featured at a key meeting of World Leaders at the COP26 climate change conference, highlighting the need for global innovation and collective action to repair our planet in this decisive decade.
Created by Prince William and the Royal Foundation, the Earthshot Prize led an unprecedented global search for the most inspiring and innovative solutions to the greatest environmental challenges facing the planet. Following the inaugural Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony on Sunday, October 17, in London, the finalists and winners came together for the first time in-person at COP26 in Glasgow.
Grand Bahama-based coral restoration farm Coral Vita was among the winners.
Prince William and the winners and finalists took part in the World Leaders Summit, hosted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, where heads of state and government leaders assembled to deliver national plans to tackle climate change.
Attending the leaders’ event, “Accelerating Clean Technology Innovation and Deployment”, Prince William delivered a speech in which he introduced the winners and finalists to the assembled leaders and called for further support for innovation to repair the planet.
He was joined on stage by India-based 15-year-old Earthshot Prize finalist Vinisha Umashankar, who invented a solar-powered ironing cart that replaces dirty charcoal with clean energy from the sun.
In a powerful speech updating President John F Kennedy’s Moonshot speech for a new generation, she invited world leaders, international organizations, civil society and business leaders to stand with her generation and back the innovations, solutions and projects working to repair the planet and join the next generation in taking action.
Prince William said: “Two weeks ago in London, we announced the first five winners of the Earthshot Prize and awarded each £1 million to scale their solutions. Our finalists are bursting with energy, ideas and ambition, so please expect many of them to come knocking on your doors.
“Their ingenuity is amazing. Their potential is off the charts. It’s my pleasure to introduce you to the real superstars in this room today.”
Umashankar said: “We, the Earthshot Prize winners and finalists, choose to, by the end of this decade, protect and restore our nature, clean our air, revive our oceans, build a waste-free world and fix our climate.
“We are the proof that the greatest challenge the history of our earth has ever seen is also the greatest opportunity. We lead the greatest wave of innovation that humanity has ever known.
“We choose not to complain, but to take actions that will make us healthier and wealthier. We choose to do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard.
“Rising to these challenges will shape a new generation — a generation that will build a better world for all of us and generations to come.”
Following the event, the Earthshot Prize finalists met with heads of state and government representatives from their respective countries, including Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and Prime Minister of The Bahamas Philip Brave Davis.
