In its fourth year and in South Africa, Cape Town for the first time, there has been plenty of buzz around the prestigious Earthshot Prize awards and platform.
Leading up to the big Earthshot Prize awards night, various workshops and conversations took place highlighting the groundbreaking environmental solutions.
World-leading innovators, investors, philanthropists and global youth representatives all came together to drive forward the restoration and protection of our planet.
Prince William explained at the Earthshot Prize awards that when he started the initiative in 2020 it was to champion the spirit of ingenuity that put a man on the moon within 10 years.
The Earthshot Prize Cape Town brought some of the biggest names in pop culture such as Nina Dobrev, Winnie Harlow, and Tobe Nwigwe, but this was an event hardly about them but the incredible finalists.
2024, marked the first year of the awards being on the African continent, the place where Prince had the idea.
Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award winner Billy Porter and award-winning television presenter Bonang Matheba, hosted the prestigious ceremony with performances from Africa's top acts; Ndlovu Youth Choir, Lebo M, Diamond Platnumz and Uncle Waffles.
“Our aim was to find solutions to repair our planet and provide real hope for the future. We want to make this the decade in which we transform the world for good, one solution at a time, from the ground up,” said the Prince of Wales.
Witnessing the impact local people had in their communities during a trip to Namibia and Tanzania inspired the Prince of Wales.
“Thanks to their ingenuity and creativity, biodiversity was returning, animals were being protected and jobs were being created.
“I saw firsthand the extent to which people were dedicating their time, talent and vision to fixing environmental challenges but they weren’t getting the support they needed to speed their solutions to scale or to have them replicated worldwide,” he said.
He further went on to explain that the Earthshot Prize exists to champion the game-changers, the inventors, the makers, the creatives, and the leaders to help them build upon the amazing things they’ve already achieved, to speed their innovation to scale and to inspire the next generation to create the future we all need.
The Earthshot Prize aims to catalyse an Earthshot challenge to urgently encourage and scale innovative solutions that can help put the world firmly on a trajectory towards a stable climate, where communities, oceans and biodiversity thrive in harmony by 2030.
The five challenges are: Protect and Restore Nature; Clean Our Air; Revive Our Oceans; Build a Waste-Free World; and Fix Our Climate.
The five 2024 Earthshot Prize Winners each received £1 million to accelerate and scale their game-changing environmental solutions. Out of the five winners, two come from Africa.
GAYO, Green Africa Youth Organization, Ghana won the award for Clean Our Air: The youth-led, gender-balanced organisation, GAYO uses its “Zero Waste Model” to drive behavioural change in waste management practices across Africa that cut greenhouse gas emissions and particle pollution, while also bringing additional income to communities.
Their goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and particle pollution in Ghana by 70%, compared to open burning, as well as divert a total of 4,000 tonnes of waste by 2030.
Keep IT Cool, Kenya was the winner for Build a Waste-Free World. Keep IT Cool (KIC) addresses the challenge of food spoilage by providing sustainable, localised refrigeration systems that help small farmers and fishers preserve their produce.
By installing solar-powered cold storage units where fish are landed, KIC significantly reduces spoilage and waste by ensuring the catch stays fresh and managing its transport to market.
With plans to grow into East Africa and beyond, KIC is now working to expand their activities in poultry, fruit and vegetables and aims to bring their solution to more communities.
This week, I had the privilege of participating in Earthshot Week courtesy of Multichoice and learning about the work being done to save our planet by organisations around the world led by young people.
By the end of Earthshot Week, one is left feeling ready to play their part in saving the planet by 2030, even with the smallest actions such as recycling trash, opting for products that put the environment first, even if it means using paper straws.
The young innovators are doing things on a very grand scale but that doesnt mean we can’t take action. I was left reminded that young people have the ability to create change and the world is listening.
Mother nature deserves a seat at the table. After all, how can the most important voice be excluded? Africa is a hub of solutions that save the planet and the value of nature will increase.
Prince William and The Earthshot Prize Council, a diverse group of experts, advocates, and individuals dedicated to championing urgent and innovative action to protect our planet, selected the five winners of the 2024 Prize cohort.
The winners are:
• Fix Our Climate: Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems
• Revive Our Oceans: High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People
• Build a Waste-Free World: Keep IT Cool
• Protect and Restore Nature: Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative
• Clean Our Air: Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO)
IOL