On Tuesday (November 7th), The Earthshot Prize held its 2023 annual award at Mediacorp Theatre in Singapore. It is an initiative launched by Britain’s Prince William in 2020 to address critical environmental challenges. The award celebrated the achievements of five outstanding projects under five categories — building a waste-free world, cleaning our air, fixing our climate, reviving our oceans, and protecting and restoring nature. Each of the winners received a £1 million (S$1.7 million) prize to advance their projects.
Here are the five winners and their projects.
1. Protect and Restore Nature
Winner: ACCIÓN ANDINA
The Project:
Acción Andina brings together local and indigenous communities in the high Andes to collaborate on the protection and restoration of native forests and ecosystems. The initiative provides essential resources such as salary support, project and financial management, and technical training.
Impact:
Since 2018, the project has planted nearly 10 million native trees across five countries, restoring over 4,000 hectares of Andean forests and safeguarding more than 11,000 hectares of native forests from destruction.
Future Plans:
The goal by 2045 is to protect and restore one million hectares of high Andean native forest ecosystems across seven countries.
2. Revive Our Oceans
Winner: WildAid Marine Programme
The Project:
WildAid ensures marine protected areas (MPAs) worldwide continue to fulfill their conservation promises, create sustainable fishery zones, and combat overfishing threats.
Impact:
Operating in 96 MPAs across 16 countries, WildAid has improved protection for over 8,500 marine species.
Future Plans:
With a focus on expanding to 250 MPAs and coastal fishery zones in the next five years, WildAid is determined to strengthen the global efforts to conserve our oceans.
3. Clean Our Air
Winner: GRST
The Project:
GRST pioneers cleaner battery production by eliminating toxic adhesives in lithium-ion batteries and reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Impact:
GRST’s technologies enable a 35% reduction in energy consumption, a 40% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions, and production of batteries that last 10% longer.
Future Plans:
Expanding to international markets, GRST plans to set up a manufacturing facility in Singapore.
4. Fix Our Climate
Winner: Boomitra
The Project:
Collaborating with 150,000 farmers worldwide, Boomitra focuses on improving agricultural practices to enhance soil health, increase crop yields, and sequester carbon dioxide.
Impact:
Since 2018, Boomitra has removed 15 million tonnes of CO2, with plans to provide at least US$200 million to farmers and ranchers by 2025.
Future Plans:
Boomitra is scaling their solutions internationally to help farmers improve soil health and increase crop yields. It also aims to store one gigaton of CO2 in the soil by 2030.
5. Build a Waste-free World
Winner: S4S Technologies
The Project:
S4S Technologies aids small-holder farmers in India by providing solar-powered dryers and food processing equipment, preventing unsold produce from going to waste and supporting women entrepreneurs.
Impact:
Over 100,000 farmers and 2,500 female entrepreneurs have experienced increased profits and doubled or tripled incomes since 2020.
Future Plans:
S4S aims to expand its network to one million small-holder farmers, help 10,000 entrepreneurs, and save half a million tonnes of food from waste in the next three years.
Photos: The Earthshot Prize