Former New Zealand Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Arden walked the green carpet in Singapore for the third Earthshot Prize awards ceremony, where five winners ranging from solar-powered dryers to combat food waste to making electric car batteries cleaner were unveiled.
Before the ceremony Dame Jacinda told Associated Press that Earthshot had helped amplify the solutions needed to fight climate change.
"We can also connect these ideas to investors in the real world and those who have the capability to help scale these ideas and solutions," she said.
“We need speed and pace and Earthshot focuses on providing both.”
Dame Jacinda, a trustee of the Earthshot board, told Reuters there were thousands of ideas that got cut down to 45 finalists.
"There is a number of criteria we are looking at, saleability is one of them. The idea that this isn't just a notion in a lab or on paper, but this is an idea that can have a tangible affect in the real world."
The green carpet also saw Britain’s Prince William walk alongside other noteworthy celebrities.
The Prince of Wales said at the first ceremony held in Asia that the solutions presented by all 15 finalists proved that “hope does remain” as the devastating effects of climate change are felt across the world.
Oscar winner Cate Blanchett, actors Donnie Yen, Lana Condor and Nomzano Mbatha, as well as Australian wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin presented the award to winners in five categories: nature protection, clean air, ocean revival, waste elimination and climate change.
The winners, who each won 1 million pounds (NZ$2.1 million) to scale up their innovations, are:
- Acción Andina, for a community-based initiative in South American bringing tens of thousands of local and indigenous people together to restore high forests in the Andes mountain;
- India's S4S Technologies, for solar-powered dryers and processing equipment that helped millions of farmers to preserve their crops and combat food waste;
- Boomitra, for removing emissions and helping boost farmer profits in Asia, South America and Africa by incentivising land restoration through a verified carbon-credit marketplace;
- Hong Kong company GRST, for developing a way to make batteries for electric vehicles pollute less and are easier to recycle;
- Global non-profit organization WildAid Marine Program, for working with governments to bolster enforcement to deter illegal fishing and strengthen ocean conservation.
“Our winners and all our finalists remind us that, no matter where you are on our planet, the spirit of ingenuity, and the ability to inspire change, surrounds us all,” William said.
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