Kensington Palace Finally Reveals What Prince William’s Earthshot Prize Entails

Published Jan 2, 2020

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6:00pm

What’s better than a little friendly competition? How about a prize that encourages people to help save the planet courtesy of Prince William?

That’s right—the 37-year-old Duke of Cambridge announced today via the Kensington Palace Twitter account that he’s launching a new endeavor to “repair the Earth.”

“Who is ready to lead as we make the 2020s a decade of action to repair our planet? Introducing the @EarthshotPrize,” the palace’s announcement read. The tweet was accompanied by a video explaining that the accolade is the most “prestigious environment prize in history.”

So what exactly does the Earthshot Prize entail?

Of the new award, Prince William said in a statement, “The earth is at a tipping point and we face a stark choice: either we continue as we are and irreparably damage our planet or we remember our unique power as human beings and our continual ability to lead, innovate and problem-solve.”

The new organization’s website explains that the royal drew inspiration from “the concept of moonshots, which since the moon landing in 1969 has become shorthand to talk about the most ambitious and ground-breaking goals.”

It seems the prize is not, as first expected, grounded in photography. In fact, the new grant will present a set of challenges “rooted in science” and “will aim to generate new ways of thinking, as well as new technologies, systems, policies and solutions.” Earthshot Prizes will be awarded across sectors of all industries and societies to those who make outstanding contributions to solving pressing environmental issues.

Earthshot Prize’s first set of challenges will be unveiled at special events around the world, like the Convention on Biodiversity in China and the COP26 Climate Change Conference in the United Kingdom this year. The prize will be awarded to five winners per year over the next ten years, hopefully inspiring at least 50 solutions to the problems our globe faces by 2030.

Kudos to Prince William for taking on such a large (and meaningful) task.

Lex Goodman

Cat mom, yogi, brunch enthusiast

Lex is an LA native who's deeply obsessed with picnics, Slim Aarons, rosé, Hollywood history and Joan Didion. She joined PureWow in early 2017.

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