Prince William Unveils Earthshot Prize 2025 Winners in Rio de Janeiro

Thu Nov 06 2025 17:59:06 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

At a vibrant awards ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, Prince William announced the winners of the Earthshot Prize 2025, celebrating innovative projects aimed at environmental restoration and sustainability.

Prince William has declared the 2025 winners of the Earthshot Prize during a glamorous awards ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The winning projects include initiatives to protect the Atlantic Forest, enforce a global ocean treaty, and promote sustainable fashion. Each laureate receives £1 million to expand their environmental projects, showcasing a commitment to tackling climate issues head-on.

A project to restore tropical forests and a global ocean treaty initiative are among the winners of this year's Earthshot Prize.

The winners, named at an awards ceremony in Brazil on Wednesday, will each be given £1m to scale up their projects to repair the climate.

The Prince of Wales, who founded the global environmental award in 2020, said the winners were an inspiration and proof that progress is possible.

Brazilian football legend Cafu, Olympian Rebeca Andrade and former Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel were among the presenters, while pop stars Kylie Minogue and Shawn Mendes performed at the ceremony in Rio de Janeiro's Museum of Tomorrow.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan were also in attendance.

Prince William, who is the president of the prize, told those gathered at the ceremony that he had founded the award with the aim of making this the decade in which we transformed our world for the better.

The prize was inspired by former US President John F Kennedy's Moonshot project, which challenged scientists to get astronauts to the Moon and back safely.

There are five Earthshots, or goals, for which an award is given: Protect and Restore Nature; Clean Our Air; Revive Our Oceans; Build a Waste-Free World; and Fix Our Climate.

The future king has committed himself to the prize for 10 years, with Rio marking a halfway point for the venture.

This year, nearly 2,500 nominees were submitted from 72 countries. Of these, 15 finalists were selected, from which the five winners were chosen.

Protect and Restore Nature: re.green, in Brazil, is making protecting one of the world's most important ecosystems, the Atlantic Forest, financially viable.

Clean Our Air: The city of Bogotá has shown how public policy can bring lasting change, through clean air zones and re-greening degraded areas in the Colombian capital.

Revive Our Oceans: The High Seas Treaty is a global ocean initiative that will conserve marine life, and will go into effect from January 2026.

Build a Waste-Free World: Lagos Fashion Week is redefining the industry, with each designer required to show their commitment to sustainable practice.

Fix Our Climate: Friendship is helping vulnerable communities across Bangladesh with access to services and preparation for natural disasters.

The chief executive of re.green, Thiago Picolo, stated that winning the Protect and Restore Nature prize will put the organization on the right path. Referring to the winners as innovators, Prince William called the Earthshot Prize a mission driven by the kind of extraordinary optimism felt during the ceremony.

Earlier in the day, Prince William met the 15 finalists during a visit to the Christ the Redeemer statue, where he posed for a photograph on the same spot his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, did 34 years ago.

Prince William's visit to Brazil focuses on climate, addressing deforestation issues and promoting sustainability across the region.