Earthshot Prize Finalists: Protecting Oceans, Monitoring Biodiversity, Providing Refrigeration, & More

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The 15 finalists for the Earthshot Prize, an annual award from an organization led by the UK’s Prince William that recognizes emerging solutions to the environmental crisis, were celebrated on Tuesday at Climate Week NYC.

The $1.3 million Earthshot Prize panel searches the globe for innovations that will help repair the planet, awarding the very best five solutions each year to scale their work. The finalists’ announcement took place at Manhattan’s Plaza Hotel, where a group of world leaders, business executives, and cultural figures gathered for a day of climate events. Speakers included Jacinda Ardern, former prime minister of New Zealand and an Earthshot trustee, and José Andrés, celebrity chef and member of the panel that picks winners.

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Here are some of the most interesting top Earthshot Finalists.

Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems: Energy-intensive industries like cement, steel, and chemicals urgently need to cut CO2 emissions. Addressing the emissions from these industries and finding ways to capture the vast amounts of heat used in production are critical steps in the fight against climate change. Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems (ATS) has developed a simple, safe, and scalable technology to capture waste heat and convert it into energy, offering a new and viable solution for heavy industries like cement and steel production.

Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative: The Initiative is working to save the critically endangered Saiga Antelope from extinction. This mission has grown into one of the world’s largest conservation projects — to protect and restore Kazakhstan’s Golden Steppe, which is is one of the world’s least protected natural ecosystems. It faces serious threats from climate change, intensive agriculture, and industrial development. Nearly 50% of its 75 million hectares of prehistoric grasslands were degraded or destroyed due to overgrazing during the Soviet era, leading to a dramatic decline in wildlife populations. Their scientific approach has helped the government make evidence-based decisions for restoring and managing protected areas.

Equatic: The company has developed an electrolytic process for atmospheric carbon dioxide removal that leverages the size and scale of the oceans. The process stabilizes carbon dioxide permanently in the form of dissolved bicarbonate ions (in seawater) and in the form of solid mineral carbonates. Moreover, the process produces hydrogen — a green fuel — as a co-product that generates revenue and clean energy.

The High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People: An intergovernmental group of 119 countries is united by a shared ambition to implement the global goal of effectively conserving and managing at least 30% of the world’s land and ocean by 2030. It offers a 30X30 Solutions Toolkit, which is a curated web resource, providing guidance and information to implement Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Envisioned as a clearing house of resources presented in an accessible and meaningful manner, it assists organizations to design, implement, and report on 30X30 strategies and action plans.

Keep IT Cool: They are an African startup based in Nairobi that addresses the supply chain industry through the creation of a smart distribution platform known as Markiti. Their platform uses innovative business models and technology to link supply and demand in the fish and chicken value chains. By leveraging decentralized off-grid and on-grid cold storage facilities, the platform reduces post-harvest losses and guarantees market access for small scale farmers and fishermen. With a cost-effective way of getting their products directly to the consumers, the company has been able to help increase local income streams while promoting fair trade.

NatureMetrics: This British startup samples environmental DNA to measure biodiversity and enables businesses to gain a comprehensive assessment of nature-related risks and opportunities across its portfolio. NatureMetrics enables businesses to set meaningful goals aligned to science-based targets, build a roadmap for implementation, and mainstream nature in their organization. Missed species can cost tens of millions in fines, lost revenue, and project overruns, and the technology finds hard-to-detect species earlier with greater speed and accuracy.

How The Earthshot Prize Determines its Finalists

The Earthshot Prize starts with The Roadmap, which is an extensive plan informed by expert advisors and the latest scientific understanding. It outlines the criteria the panel believes are needed to uncover solutions with the greatest potential for positive impact needed to achieve the Earthshots.

The Roadmap acts as an important guide for Nominators. Using their extensive environmental networks, these organizations work across all countries and sectors, from grassroots and Indigenous communities to businesses and governments, to find and nominate the most impactful solutions. By leveraging the power of their network of Nominators, they can tap into the best knowledge and experience available. This enables them to seek out the projects and initiatives that are already having a positive impact and have huge potential to scale this impact around the world through growth or replication.

The Roadmap, which identifies 15 Priority Areas of Interest — three per Earthshot — is a starting point. In addition, they assess nominations against 5 Cross-cutting Enablers that potential solutions might adopt, and 4 Key Filters that stand to significantly accelerate their impact. With particular focus on nominees with potential for global impact, the panel seeks nominations that represent diversity and are mature enough to rapidly scale. It wants to ensure that the finalists and winners will make a vital difference.

By submitting a nomination to The Earthshot Prize, Nominators are advocating for the people on the ground driving change all over the world and who deserve recognition and support for the incredible work they do to repair our planet. Once nominations are received, they undergo a rigorous screening and assessment process before the panel selects fifteen finalists and five winners.

Final Thoughts About The Earthshot Prize

An advisory panel of experts in conservation, technology, finance, and other areas reviews nominations each year and recommends finalists. Prince William and other prominent environmental advocates pick the winners. Among last year’s winners were lithium-battery recycler GRST and Acción Andina, a program focused on protecting Andean forest ecosystems.

The five 2024 winners will be selected in November at an event in Cape Town, South Africa, from categories that include cleaning the air and building a carbon-neutral economy.

The Earthshot Prize was founded in 2020 by Prince William in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies and is backed by organizations including the Breakthrough Energy Foundation, Bezos Earth Fund, and Jack Ma Foundation.