The Earthshot Prize was created by Prince William and The Royal Foundation in 2020. The goal of the prize? Present five goals (Earthshots): Protect and Restore Nature; Clean our Air; Revive our Oceans; Build a Waste-Free World; and Fix our Climate.
Each year, five winners and 15 finalists receive support to put their proposed solutions into action at scale. Let’s take a look at this year’s winners and some of their accomplishments.
Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems
Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems was the winner in the “Fix Our Climate” category, which aims to reduce CO2 emissions.
One major source of CO2 is manufacturing since industrial plants use energy from fossil fuels and produce massive amounts of smoke. Along with this smoke, however, they produce heat, which can be recycled as electricity using a method called “Heat Capture.”
ATS’ project was an efficient and scalable heat capture device to convert excess heat from manufacturing into usable electricity. Initially, they worked on advancing solar energy, but upon discovering that their panels could generate electricity from ambient heat, they sought to use thermovoltaics to improve heat capture technology.
The device they developed is small, safe to implement in industrial plants, and almost 98% recyclable materials. It transfers ambient heat from nearby heat sources to small panels within the device and generates electricity.
Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative
The next winner, this time in the Protect & Restore Nature category, was the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative. Their goal is to restore Kazakhstan’s Golden Steppe, a vast, ancient grassland that has suffered a serious decline from agriculture and climate change. In the Golden Steppe lives the saiga antelope, a species pushed to the verge of extinction by a major viral outbreak and rampant poaching.
With the antelope population reduced to 20,000, it took a concentrated effort between the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative, Fauna & Flora, the Frankfurt Zoological Society, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to tag as many of the remaining individuals as possible, track their movements, and ensure their traditional breeding and feeding grounds are protected.
They raised awareness of the importance of preserving the antelopes among local communities and worked closely with government rangers to prevent poaching. Thanks to them, the population of saiga antelopes blossomed from 20,000 to 2.86 million. They are now turning their attention to other species and parts of the Golden Steppe, hoping to slowly but surely restore it to its former glory.
High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People
Last, but not least, comes the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, an organization dedicated to pushing governments around the world to take action to protect the environment.
International governments have been dragging their heels when it comes to enforcing policies against illegal land grabs, overfishing, and resource extraction. HAC’s goal is to preserve at least 30% of the world’s land and oceans by 2030. To reach this goal, they created the 30×30 Solutions Toolkit, a collection of roadmaps for governments to follow to improve their climate policies.
They also have a vast network of partnerships and work with local communities to support governments in strengthening conservation laws. Their future plans are to strengthen ocean conservation efforts and reach 30% perfection within the next six years.
These are just a few of the many organizations and individuals who are leading the way to a sustainable future. For the complete list of winners and finalists, check out the EarthShot website here.
Sources: Earthshotprize.org, PBS, BBC
