The Earthshot Prize has announced that its annual award ceremony will be heading to Cape Town this year, to be held in South Africa for the first time.
Featuring five days of landmark events set to take place in November, Earthshot Week 2024 aims to celebrate the groundbreaking ways this year’s nominees are working to save the planet, bringing together leading innovators, investors and philanthropists to drive the restoration and protection of the planet.
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Over the coming months, a rigorous selection process will unearth fifteen finalists from across the globe, of whom five will receive a £1 million (R23.8 million) prize to scale their solutions during the Prince of Wales’ prestigious award ceremony.
The five winners will be awarded across five categories: Protect & Restore, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build A Waste-Free World and Fix Our Climate.
The shortlist of 15 finalists will be announced in September.
According to the Earthshot Prize, nearly 400 of the 2 500 nominations for this year’s prize are Africa-based, which highlights the trailblazing creativity and innovation across the continent with the potential to inspire optimism and provide pathways to transformative change around the world.
‘Despite contributing the least to global warming and having the lowest emissions, Africa is the most vulnerable continent to the impacts of climate change. In 2022 alone, more than 110 million people across Africa were directly affected by weather, climate and water-related hazards, according to the World Meteorological Organisation,’ said the Earthshot Prize in a statement.
‘Yet in the face of these challenges, nearly all African countries have committed to enhancing climate action through reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and building resilience.’
Commenting on the announcement, Earthshot Prize CEO Hannah Jones said ‘we’re delighted to be working with changemakers and partners across Africa to spotlight the incredible innovation emerging across the continent, to convene courageous conversations about scale and finance, and to partner with young creators and filmmakers to tell the story of changemakers across Africa.’
‘The nominations to The Earthshot Prize remind us that human ingenuity, grit and determination can turn the seemingly impossible into the new normal,’ she added.
Britain’s Prince William, who established the Earthshot Prize in 2020, has a long history with Africa. He chose Kenya to propose to Kate Middleton and has visited other countries for his Tusk wildlife charity, as well as holidaying on the continent several times, reported Times Live.
Last year’s event was held in Singapore.
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Picture: Yasser Abdul / Unsplash