Prince William has announced details of the first Earthshot Prize awards ceremony.
The Duke of Cambridge has revealed the inaugural event will take place at London’s Alexandra Palace on 17 October and will celebrate those trying to “solve the world’s greatest environmental challenges”.
The ceremony will celebrate all of the global finalists before handing out the first five winners of the Earthshot Prize, with the recipients receiving £1 million to scale their solutions to the environmental challenges facing the planet.
William said: “By hosting the COP26 conference in Glasgow just weeks after our inaugural awards, the UK is helping lead the world in tackling climate change. London is a fantastic location to showcase this leadership, spotlight the finalists and award our very first Earthshot Prize winners.
“The awards ceremony will be a truly global event, connecting people from all over the world to celebrate these inspiring leaders and their innovations to solve the world’s greatest environmental challenges.”
As well as Alexandra Palace, other major London landmarks will be involved in the event, and there will be show-stopping performances and previously unseen musical collaborations.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “Hosting the very first Earthshot Prize ceremony is a momentous occasion for London. As will be showcased throughout London Climate Action Week, we have been determined to lead the world in this area – with an ambitious target for net zero city by 2030 and delivering solutions like the world’s first Ultra Low Emission Zone to make our city cleaner, greener and healthier for all.
“The Earthshot Prize: London 2021 is an unprecedented opportunity to inspire all Londoners and people around the world to be part of this global effort to repair our planet. I am thrilled that our city will be the inaugural host to award the first Earthshot Prizes for these ground-breaking solutions that can help improve all of our lives.”
The ceremony will broadcast on BBC One in the UK and around the world with another broadcast partner.
William founded the Earthshot Prize in 2020, with its intention to discover and scale the best solutions to help repair the planet over the next decade.
Every year until 2030 The Earthshot Prize will be looking to reward solutions to five specific goals – Protect and restore nature; Clean our air; Revive our oceans; Build a waste-free world; and Fix our climate.
The finalists will be unveiled next month.
For more information about The Earthshot Prize, visit www.earthshotprize.org