Actor Billy Porter and Earthshot ambassadors Robert Irwin and Nomzamo Mbatha joined the Prince of Wales on stage
The Prince of Wales has said he wants his environmental Earthshot prize to “change the world for good” over the next decade as he celebrated this year’s winners.
Prince William closed the awards ceremony in Cape Town by calling for people around the world to join the “movement for change”.
Models Heidi Klum and Winnie Harlow, actor Nina Dobrev and artist Tobe Nwigwe announced the £1m ($1.2m) prize winners from each category at the event.
The recipients included an initiative that saved a rare antelope species from extinction and a Kenyan company that uses solar powered fridges to stop harvested crops spoiling.The fourth edition of the Prince’s annual Earthshot Prize awards was hosted by Emmy-winning actor Billy Porter and TV presenter Bonang Matheba.
It supports sustainable, eco-friendly projects from around the world, with each of the five winners receiving £1m to scale-up their innovative ideas to “repair” the planet.
There are five ‘Earthshots’ – or goals: Protect and Restore Nature; Clean Our Air; Revive Our Oceans; Build a Waste-free World; and Fix Our Climate.
Fifteen finalists, from countries including France, Kenya, Indonesia, the UK and Nepal, were competing for their category’s prize pot after being whittled down from 2,500 applicants.Earthshot Prize 2024 – Full list of winners
Protect and Restore Nature: Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative, a project that has saved the critically endangered Saiga antelope from extinction in Kazakhstan
Clean Our Air: Green Africa Youth Organization, who use behavioural change to help communities clean up waste and build circular waste management infrastructure across Africa
Revive Our Oceans: High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, an alliance of at least 119 countries with the ambitious goal to protect 30% of land and oceans by 2030
Build a Waste-free World: Keep IT Cool, a Kenyan-based company using solar powered refrigeration to help cut harvest waste for farmers
Fix Our Climate: Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems, an American company that convert excess heat, produced during the making of steel or cement, into electricity
PA Winnie Harlow takes a selfie with the Prince of Wales and other performers and presenters during the Earthshot Prize Awards.Earlier on Wednesday, the prince praised his wife the Princess of Wales, who is recovering after treatment for cancer, saying she has been “amazing this whole year”.
His wife had not travelled to South Africa and would watch the ceremony at home in Windsor, he said.
“I know she’ll be really keen to see tonight be a success,” he added.
All 2,000 attendees were asked to wear sustainable clothes – either made from recycled materials or a previously worn outfit – and on arrival a host of global stars, made their way down the “green carpet” instead of a traditional red one.
And the prince was no exception, dressed in a second-hand double-breasted Prince of Wales check jacket and white plastic-free fully biodegradable shoes.
Dubbed the prince’s “Super Bowl” moment, the awards were broadcast live across Africa and streamed online. In his closing remarks, the prince said he believed the world could be “rich in possibility, in hope, and in optimism”.
“Our aim was to find solutions to repair our planet and provide real hope for the future.
“We want to make this the decade in which we transform the world for good, one solution at a time, from the ground up,” he said.