The Earthshot Prize

The Earthshot Prize is a global environmental initiative established in 2020 by Prince William and The Royal Foundation. It identifies and supports innovative responses to pressing ecological problems, awarding five grants of £1,000,000 (approximately ₹10.5 Crore) each year. These grants are distributed across five categories, or 'Earthshots': Protect & Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build a Waste-Free World, and Fix Our Climate. The prize recognises solutions that demonstrate measurable progress toward environmental restoration within the current decade.

The programme seeks to encourage a new wave of innovators, supporting both technological developments and community-based projects. It has achieved international visibility, drawing attention to urgent environmental issues and promoting approaches that can be adapted and expanded in different contexts. The 2026 award ceremony is scheduled to take place in Mumbai, India, reflecting the prize's engagement with varied ecosystems and emerging ideas worldwide. India has already produced two past winners of the prize.

• Find an Official Nominator: Locate an accredited 'Official Nominator' organisation—such as a university, accelerator, investor, NGO, or government body—that operates in your sector or region. The Earthshot Prize website provides a directory of these nominators.
• Present Your Solution: Contact the chosen nominator directly. Explain your environmental solution, focusing on its impact, feasibility, and fit with one of the five Earthshot categories. While nominators actively seek out ventures, they also accept direct approaches from promising candidates.
• Submit a Formal Nomination: If the nominator supports your solution, they will file the formal nomination on your behalf within the official nomination period. This window is fixed and announced by The Earthshot Prize for each cycle.
• Undergo Evaluation: Nominated solutions move through a detailed, multi-stage review and assessment process led by the Earthshot Prize team and expert panels.

The Earthshot Prize evaluation proceeds through several distinct stages. After Official Nominators put forward candidates, expert reviewers conduct a first-pass check to confirm that each submission satisfies the core eligibility requirements and shows meaningful promise. From there, shortlisted entries are examined in detail by advisory panels made up of scientists, environmentalists, corporate leaders, and policy specialists drawn from across the globe, who weigh factors such as impact, scalability, replicability, and originality.

The final call rests with the Prize Council, a body of influential individuals from varied backgrounds. They consider the panels’ recommendations and choose the five annual recipients, one for each Earthshot category.