The winners in five categories, which were honored on Sunday evening, include the Latin American country Costa Rica, the northern Italian city of Milan and innovative companies. The award winners each received one million pounds (1.17 million euros) to further develop their environmental protection projects.
Conservation of nature, cleaner air, revitalization of the seas, waste prevention and climate protection
The Earthshot Prize is awarded in the categories of nature conservation and regeneration, cleaner air, revitalization of the seas, waste prevention and climate protection. One of the winners is the Coral Vita coral farm, which breeds coral species that are insensitive to global warming in the Bahamas. The technology company AEM Electrolyser was honored for converting renewable energy into green hydrogen.
The Indian company Takachar was recognized for its contribution to better air quality, which has developed a portable and inexpensive technology that converts crop waste attached to harvesting machines into marketable organic products such as fertilizers. This avoids the burning of crop waste, which contributes to air pollution.
Costa Rica, Milan and Indian companies were awarded
Costa Rica was recognized for its forest conservation and afforestation efforts. Milan impressed with a program to halve food waste by distributing remaining food from supermarkets and canteens to the needy.
At the televised awards ceremony, Prince William called on humanity to “unite to repair the planet.” “The deeds that we decide to do or not to do in the next ten years will determine the fate of our planet for the next thousand years,” warned the grandson of Queen Elizabeth II.
The award ceremony opened with a pre-recorded performance by the British band Coldplay, for which 60 people generated energy with pedals. An appeal from conservationist David Attenborough followed. The prizes were presented by British actresses Emma Thompson and Emma Watson and by Liverpool FC striker Mo Salah.
The Earthshot Prize is the most ambitious of its kind
The Earthshot Prize was launched last year with a capital of 50 million pounds for ten years with the aim of being “the most prestigious environmental prize in the world”. The award ceremony is to take place in the USA next year.
At the UN climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, from October 31 to November 12, negotiations will be held on a further reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. So far, international climate protection efforts are far from sufficient to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees compared to the pre-industrial age, as envisaged in the Paris Climate Agreement. (AFP)