The Prince of Wales has announced the finalists of this year's Earthshot Prize, describing them as "heroes of our time". And as he prepares to take the Prize to Rio de Janeiro next month, five years into the ambitious 10-year, £50million environmental prize programme to solve some of the planets greatest challenges, he has reflected on a "critical decade".
"Back then, a decade felt a long time," he says. "George was seven, Charlotte five and Louis two; the thought of them in 2030 felt a lifetime away. But today, as we stand halfway through this critical decade, 2030 feels very real."
In a video message in which he is seen sitting beneath an oak tree, he adds: "2030 is a threshold by which future generations will judge us; it is the point at which our actions, or lack of them, will have shaped forever the trajectory of our planet." Praising the "unstoppable" energy of this year's finalists, he says: "The people behind these projects are heroes of our time, so let us back them."
William's message was echoed by Hollywood star Cate Blanchett, a member of the Earthshot Prize Council, who said: "What I'm especially proud of this year is the way in which entire categories of Finalists are challenging our expected views and behaviours - the way we enjoy fashion, how we buy electronics, protect forests - even wash our clothes - could be fundamentally different by 2030 because of them." Cate joined the Prince on a visit to 2023 finalists Colorifix in Norwich earlier this year.
This year's contenders include Matter, a British company whose washing machine filters stop microplastics escaping from our laundry into our oceans and Quay Quarter Tower in Sydney, Australia, a skyscraper that has been "upcycled" rather than demolished and rebuilt from scratch.
Nigeria's Lagos Fashion Week is nominated for requiring designers to prove they use sustainable materials and methods, while Chinese firm ATRenew is slashing e-waste by using AI to speed up the processing of second-hand electronic devices such as mobile phones. The fifth cohort of finalists have been selected from nearly 2,500 nominees from 72 countries.
They join 60 previous finalists who have to date collectively protected and restored more than a million square kilometers of land and ocean, prevented more than 250,000 tonnes of waste from reaching landfill and reduced, avoided or captured more than 4.8 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions.
© Kensington Palace"The Earthshot Prize was founded because we’re in a decisive moment – it's a ten-year window of opportunity where our actions today will shape life on Earth for generations to come," says Earthshot Prize CEO Jason Knauf. “The Earthshot Prize was also founded because Prince William believes that this decade can be a great human success story. That with urgency and optimism we can make these years count."
LISTEN: Prince William's plans for the future and kids revelations
Fifteen 2025 finalists will compete for £1million prizes in each of the five categories: Revive our Oceans, Fix our Climate, Build a Waste-free World, Protect and Restore Nature and Clean our Air. The winners will be announced at a glittering awards ceremony in Rio on 3 November.
The 2025 Earthshot Prize Finalists:
Revive Our Oceans
- UK-based Matter has developed Regen®, a filter that can be fitted to any washing machine to stop microplastics entering the oceans through our laundry. The company aims to deliver enough filters to capture 15,000 tonnes of microplastics by 2030.
- Bonds for Ocean Conservation is restructuring financial debt to allow countries to invest in ocean protection. A $450 million deal in the Galapagos has allow Ecuador to establish a 6-million-hectare marine reserve and the model has successfully been replicated in the Seychelles, Belize, Barbados, Gabon and The Bahamas.
- The High Seas Treaty is a major international commitment to protect 30 per cent of our oceans by 2030. More than 60 per cent of our oceans lie beyond any nation’s territorial waters, but the Treaty establishes a legal framework to protect them from over-fishing and allow ecosystems to recover.
Fix our Climate
- Barbados is being recognised for its Bridgetown Initiative - a $700m loss and damage fund for the 70 most climate vulnerable nations – and for securing commitment from the G20 to channel $100bn to developing countries. The island nation is also working towards becoming fossil-free by 2030.
- USA-based Form Energy is pioneering an iron-air battery to deliver affordable, reliable power and enable the use of renewable energy at scale. Its factory in West Virginia is helping to revitalise an American Rust Belt town by employing hundreds of workers.
- Friendship, in Bangladesh, is helping communities to build resilience in a country where 50 million people live at risk of flooding and extreme weather. Projects include restoring mangrove forests, floating hospitals to serve remote areas and schools that can be dismantled ahead of natural disasters.
Build a waste-free world
- Quay Quarter Tower in Sydney, Australia, is the world’s first upcycled skyscraper. Set for demolition, it has instead been transformed to have twice the floor space and a fraction of the environmental footprint, saving 12,000 tonnes of carbon.
- Lagos Fashion Week asks designers who want to show there to prove they use sustainable methos and materials. They also run programmes to equip designers with the skills they need.
- China-based ATRenew is using AI to inspect, grade and price up to 100,000 electronic devices daily, making it easy, affordable and desirable to trade-in and buy second hand devices. It has processed 150 million devices in the past five years.
Clean our air
- The City of Guangzhou, China, has electrified its entire bus fleet in just eight years, with 12,000 electric buses and 10,000 electric taxis. The retired lithium-iron bus batteries are now being used for solar and wind energy storage.
- The City of Bogota, Colombia, has reduced fine particulate matter – the harmful particles in the air that can affect human lungs and health – by 24 per cent by expanding its electric bus fleet, adding bike lanes, increasing urban greenery and tightening freight truck regulations.
- The State of Gujarat, India, has pioneered an emissions trading scheme that limits how much each factory can emit. Businesses can sell their unused allowance to others that need it, giving them a financial incentive to lower pollution.
Protect and restore nature
- Re.green is using AI and satellite data to tackle deforestation in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest by quickly identifying suitable areas of land to restore. The tech-start up aims to plant 65million seedlings by 2032.
- Tenure Facility is helping indigenous communities to secure their land rights through legal support and direct funding. It is already operating across 20 countries and protecting 34 million hectares – an area the size of Germany.
- Tropical Forest Forever Facility is building a £125 billion global investment fund to provide permanent income to rainforest nations so they can permanently protect their forests. Led by the Brazilian government, it could safeguard more than a billion hectares of forest by 2030.
© Apple TV+Over on The HELLO! Royal Club, HELLO! Royal Editor Emily Nash's brilliant weekly newsletter asks just how far Prince William is planning to go with his ideas for the future of the monarchy, and why he decided to go public with them on a lighthearted travel show like The Reluctant Traveler? To read the post, simply click on the button below.
