In the Running for 5 Catalytic £1 Million Prizes
Prince William’s Earthshot Prize has announced the 15 finalists for its 2024 edition, selected from nearly 2,500 nominations across 139 countries. These finalists represent global innovators addressing urgent climate challenges and are in the running for five £1 million prizes. This year’s cohort includes the first-ever finalists from France, Ghana, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and Nepal.
Speaking on the finalist selection, Prince William, Founder and President of The Earthshot Prize, said, “Today, we celebrate the incredible achievement, unwavering dedication, and urgent optimism that drive our fourth class of Earthshot innovators. The passion of these finalists is a testament to what can be achieved when we tap into the enormous creativity, ingenuity, and optimism of communities around the world. Representing every corner of the globe, these finalists are leading the way in solving some of the most urgent environmental challenges. Their groundbreaking work is inspiring hope and action as we work to create a sustainable future for generations to come.”
The finalists, whose solutions align with the five key Earthshot goals—Protect and Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build a Waste-Free World, and Fix Our Climate—presented notable projects. These include Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance, Ecuador, an alliance of 30 indigenous nations that collectively stand together to protect 86 million acres of critical Amazon rainforest – an area the size of Germany – and advocate for a regenerative bioeconomy; NatureMetrics, UK: a global intelligence start-up in environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling on a mission to make biodiversity monitoring accessible to all; Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative, Kazakhstan: an organization that has achieved what was thought impossible – the rapid recovery of a large animal from the brink of extinction all solutions aimed at protecting and restoring nature.
The Clean Our Air category finalists are GAYO Ghana, a youth-led organization that uses its “zero waste model” to drive behavioural change in waste management practices across Africa that cut greenhouse gas emissions and particle pollution while bringing additional income to communities; d.light, Pan-Africa, a successful company on track to transform the lives of one billion people by providing affordable and clean solar home systems that provide electricity and replace polluting kerosene lamps and dirty stoves and MYCL, Indonesia, a company tackling two major problems of crop-waste burning and harmful leather production, both which pollute the air and damage quality of life.
High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, Global, a groundbreaking alliance of 119 countries with the grandest goal of any Finalist to date – to protect 30% of the land and oceans by 2030, by identifying technical, financial and knowledge gaps and connecting governments with technical assistance and funding; MiAlgae, UK, a company offering a circular economy solution to the problem of sourcing marine Omega-3s from fish oil, which requires catching large quantities of wild fish simply to feed the farmed fish that we consume and Coast 4C, Philippines, a social enterprise that aims to build the world’s largest supply of regenerative seaweed, benefiting marginalized coastal fishing communities by transforming their harvest and providing a market to sell the seaweed at profits to lift them out of poverty are finalists in the Revive the Ocean category.
Finalists in the Build A Waste Free World category are Natural Fiber Welding, USA, a company that creates biodegradable natural fibers and ingredients to replace plastics with wide applications in fashion, footwear, automotive and more; Ferment’Up, France: a company that upcycles skins and seeds from fruits and vegetables using dry fermentation to create highly nutritious ingredients from food waste, cutting carbon emissions and drastically reducing water use and Keep It Cool, Kenya, a company that is tackling problems with proper refrigeration and cold-chain logistics across Africa by offering solar-powered refrigeration solutions that cut post-harvest waste by 25% and by connecting smallholder farmers and fishers to a centralized online marketplace.
Equatic, USA, using breakthrough technology, this early-stage company uses a process called seawater electrolysis to remove carbon dioxide from the ocean 99,000 times faster than nature alone; Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems, USA, a company that takes excess heat from heavy industrial processes, like creating cement and steel, and converts the heat waste into electricity and Build Up Nepal, Nepal, a social enterprise that has developed an earthquake-resilient brick with 75% lower carbon emissions compared to traditional clay-fired bricks are finalists for the Fix Our Climate category.
The five winners will be selected by Prince William and fellow members of the prestigious Earthshot Prize Council, which includes HRH Prince William, Queen Rania Al Abdullah, Cate Blanchett, Sir David Attenborough, and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
The 2024 Earthshot Prize winners will be announced at the fourth Earthshot Prize Awards on Wednesday, 6 November, in Cape Town, South Africa. The event, part of Earthshot Week, will convene global leaders, investors, and NGOs to explore opportunities with the finalists and winners.
In addition to the £1 million prizes, each finalist will receive dedicated mentorship, resources, and technical support through the Earthshot Prize Fellowship Programme. This includes access to the Prize’s network of businesses, investors, and climate experts, as well as Launchpad, Earthshot’s innovative finance platform, to help scale proven environmental solutions.
