LONDON, Oct. 21, 2025 — At the halfway point of the Earthshot decade, Prince William has introduced the 15 finalists for the Earthshot Prize 2025, celebrating bold ideas to repair and protect the planet. Founded in 2020, the prize awards £1 million each to five winners across five categories: Protect and Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build a Waste-Free World, and Fix Our Climate.
Protect and Restore Nature
- Amazonas Reforestation Alliance (Brazil): A coalition restoring degraded rainforest through community-led planting and sustainable livelihoods.
- WildAid Marine Rangers (Kenya): Using AI-powered drones to monitor and protect endangered wildlife habitats.
- Rewilding Iberia (Spain/Portugal): Large-scale rewilding of grasslands and wetlands to restore biodiversity.
Clean Our Air
- Blue Skies Delhi (India): Deploying low-cost air filtration towers in urban hotspots.
- Carbon Clean Homes (UK): Retrofitting social housing with affordable air-cleaning and carbon-reducing technologies.
- Breathe Lagos (Nigeria): A youth-led initiative tackling urban air pollution through electric minibuses and monitoring networks.
Revive Our Oceans
- Coral Vita 2.0 (Bahamas): Scaling coral reef restoration with climate-resilient species.
- Pacific Ocean Plastics Project (Fiji): Turning ocean plastic waste into construction materials.
- Seaweed Futures (Indonesia): Expanding regenerative seaweed farming to absorb carbon and support coastal communities.
Build a Waste-Free World
- Lagos Fashion Week (Nigeria): Recognised for pioneering sustainable fashion and circular design practices BellaNaija.
- Circular Skyscraper (Singapore): A high-rise built entirely from upcycled materials, setting new standards for urban construction.
- Microplastic Filter Tech (Germany): A washing machine filter preventing billions of microplastics from entering waterways.
Fix Our Climate
- Iron-Air Battery Systems (USA): Long-duration energy storage to stabilise renewable grids.
- Fossil-Free Finland (Finland): A national programme on track to eliminate fossil fuels by 2035, serving as a model for other countries.
- Solar Villages (Morocco): Community-owned solar microgrids powering rural regions and reducing reliance on diesel.
Prince William’s Message
In announcing the finalists, Prince William said the projects embody the “urgent optimism” at the heart of the Earthshot mission. “It is impossible to hear these stories, to see the impact they are already having, and not feel encouraged by their energy and momentum,” he remarked Yahoo News UK The Independent.
Awards Ceremony in Brazil
The winners will be revealed at a ceremony in Rio de Janeiro on 5 November, coinciding with global climate discussions at COP30 in the Amazon. The event will feature performances by Kylie Minogue, Shawn Mendes, Gilberto Gil, Anitta, and Seu Jorge, underscoring the cultural and political significance of the prize HELLO! Daily Express | MSN Yahoo News UK People | MSN.
Summary: The 2025 Earthshot Prize finalists showcase solutions ranging from forest restoration in Brazil to sustainable fashion in Nigeria and energy storage in the U.S.. With five £1 million prizes at stake, the awards highlight the global momentum for climate action as the Earthshot Prize reaches its halfway mark.
Sources: Earthshot Prize [6]; Yahoo News [7]; Independent [9]; Springwise [10]; BellaNaija [4].
Prince William and Wife Catherine at Earthshot 2021 Picture from Wiki by Office of U.S. Ambassador to U.K.
