The Duke of Cambridge is set to become the charity’s president after founding the hugely successful prize in 2020. The Earthshot Prize is a global environment award to “discover, accelerate, and scale ground-breaking solutions to repair and regenerate the planet”. Prince William will also be joined by four trustees – M Sanjayan, Jason Knauf, Zoe Ware, and Jean Christophe Gray.
Together, the trustees will offer diverse perspectives to drive the prize forward as it aims to repair the planet. Lord Hague, Chair of The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, said: “It is with great pride that we see The Earthshot Prize become an independent charity today. “It is the most ambitious project Prince William and The Royal Foundation have delivered to date and is a shining example of what can be achieved when leaders, businesses and people work together to tackle one of society’s greatest challenges.”
He added: “The Prize has already achieved extraordinary impact, and we look forward to continuing to work closely with the team over the coming decade, which we know to be critical in the mission to repair our planet.” The Earthshot Prize was launched by the Duke and The Royal Foundation in October 2020, inspired by President John F Kennedy’s ‘Moonshot’ programme in the 1960s which urged millions to support the US space programme.
It is based on five ‘Earthshot’ goals: Protect and restore nature; Fix our climate; Clean our air; Revive our oceans; Build a waste-free world. Five £1 million prizes will be awarded each year for the next decade, providing at least 50 solutions to the world’s greatest environmental problems by 2030. Following last year’s star-studded inaugural ceremony at London’s Alexandra Palace, the 2022 awards ceremony is set to take place in Australia later this year. Christina Figueres, chair of The Earthshot Prize, said: “This is an enormously exciting step for The Earthshot Prize and we’re thrilled to welcome the new Trustees to our board. “This year will see the Prize deliver its most important work to date as we continue to speed and scale the ground breaking work of our 2021 Finalists, whilst searching for this year’s Winners.
“We are deeply grateful for the years of thought leadership, bold creativity and ambition design of the team at The Royal Foundation as they created The Earthshot Prize, and look forward to the coming years of continued partnership.”
