The Earthshot Prize and Bloomberg Philanthropies Announce Initial Speakers for the Third Annual Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit
Michael R. Bloomberg, Jacinda Ardern, Matt Damon, José Andrés, Joel Embiid, Christiana Figueres, and Earthshot Prize Finalists and Winners will address attendees on September 24 in New York City
Summit will unveil the 2024 Earthshot Prize Finalists while spotlighting the progress of the 2023 Finalists and Winners who are trailblazing solutions to repair and restore our planet
London and New York, NY – Today, The Earthshot Prize and Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the first slate of speakers for The Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit on September 24, 2024, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The third Innovation Summit, held during New York Climate Week and the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, will bring the 2023 Earthshot Prize Winners and Finalists together with policymakers, global business leaders, philanthropists, and climate activists to further spotlight and scale their solutions to address the world’s most crucial environmental challenges. During the Summit, the fifteen 2024 Earthshot Prize Finalists, each eligible to receive one of five £1 million prizes to be awarded at The Earthshot Prize awards ceremony in Cape Town this November, will be revealed.
Hannah Jones, CEO of The Earthshot Prize, will attend alongside Michael R. Bloomberg, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions and Global Advisor to the Winners of The Earthshot Prize. They will welcome a number of speakers and special guests, including: José Andrés, Founder, World Central Kitchen and Earthshot Prize Council Member; Rt Hon Dame Jacinda Ardern, Trustee, The Earthshot Prize; Justin Bibb, Mayor of Cleveland, OH; Matt Damon, Co-Founder, Water.org and WaterEquity; Joel Embiid, Cameroonian-American Professional Basketball Player; Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance and Co-Chair of Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero; Dame Christiana Figueres, Chair, The Earthshot Prize; Jane Fonda, Actor and Activist, via a special video message; Maya Gabeira, Big Wave Surfer and Ambassador, Oceana; Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington; Brad Keywell, Founder & Executive Chairman, Uptake Technologies; Wanjira Mathai, Managing Director, Africa and Global Partnerships at World Resources Institute and Earthshot Prize Council Member; Bonang Matheba, South African Radio Host and TV Presenter; Gina McCarthy, Managing Co-Chair, America Is All In, and first White House National Climate Advisor and U.S. EPA Administrator; Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Special Envoy for Financing the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda; Susan Rockefeller, Founder, Musings; Shamina Singh, Founder & President, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and Executive Vice President, Sustainability at Mastercard; Masai Ujiri, Vice Chairman and President, Toronto Raptors and Co-Founder, Giants of Africa; Gary White, CEO & Co-Founder, Water.org and WaterEquity; and Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Founder and CEO, Hip Hop Caucus.
The Earthshot Prize’s 2023 Finalists will be in attendance to highlight their progress and impact over the past year while spotlighting the Prize’s five key pillars of climate solutions: Protect and Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build A Waste-Free World, and Fix Our Climate. The 2023 Finalists and Winners attending the Earthshot Innovation Summit include: Orianna Bretschger, CEO, Aquacycl; Meaghan Brosnan, CEO, WildAid Marine Programme; Constantino Aucca Chutas, Co-Founder, Acción Andina; Sam Elsom, CEO, Sea Forest; Gunnlaugur Erlendsson, CEO, ENSO; Andrzej Gula, Co-Founder, Polish Smog Alert; Frank Harley, Chief Strategy Officer, GRST; Christopher Hunter, COO, Colorifix; Florent Kaiser, Co-Founder, Acción Andina; Manja Kargbo, Team Lead, Freetown the Treetown; Peter Majeranowski, CEO, Circ; Aadith Moorthy, CEO, Boomitra; Nidhi Pant, Co-Founder, S4S; Marcelo Pereti, CFO, Belterra; Serge Raemaekers, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Abalobi; and Rocky Tirona, Managing Director, Coastal 500. Many of the 2024 Finalists being announced at the Summit will also be in attendance.
Additional speakers and guests who will be available to the press will be shared soon. Media interested in attending The Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit, which will be held from 9:30-11:00am ET on September 24, must be credentialed and can submit their request here.
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About The Earthshot Prize:
For more information about The Earthshot Prize, visit: www.earthshotprize.org.
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Founded by Prince William and incubated in The Royal Foundation in 2020 for a year before becoming an independent platform/organization, The Earthshot Prize is a global environmental prize and platform designed to discover, accelerate and scale ground-breaking solutions to repair and regenerate the planet. Inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s Moonshot, which united millions of people around the goal of reaching the moon, 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 Prize aims to turn the current pessimism surrounding environmental issues into optimism by championing inspiring leadership and helping to scale incredible cutting-edge solutions. It will discover 50 winners over 10 years with the power to repair the planet. More than an award, The Earthshot Prize works in partnership with a Global Alliance of Partners to support the scaling of the solutions discovered and selected each year.
The Global Alliance Founding Partners are a group of leading global organizations and philanthropists, which act as strategic funding partners to the Prize, including Aga Khan Development Network, Bezos Earth Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Breakthrough Energy Foundation, Coleman Family Ventures, DP World in partnership with Dubai EXPO 2020, Eleven Eleven Foundation, Giving Grousbeck Fazzalari, Holch Povlsen Foundation, Jack Ma Foundation, Law Family Charitable Foundation, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, Marc and Lynne Benioff, Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Rob Walton Foundation, Sandy and Paul Edgerley, Standard Chartered Bank, Temasek Trust, and Uber.
Global Alliance Partners are non-profit environment and sustainable development organizations that bring expertise, global reach and serve as nominating organizations each year. For a full list of our Global Alliance Partners, visit: www.earthshotprize.org/global-alliance.
Global Alliance Members are some of the world’s largest and most influential companies and brands that will support The Earthshot Prize, implement ambitious changes within their businesses and accelerate the advancement of the solutions of Prize Finalists and Winners. They are Arup, Bloomberg L.P., Deloitte, Herbert Smith Freehills, Hitachi, Ingka Group (IKEA), Microsoft, The Multichoice Group, Natura &Co, Safaricom, Salesforce, Unilever, Vodacom Group and Walmart.
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About Bloomberg Philanthropies:
Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in 700 cities and 150 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on creating lasting change in five key areas: the Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation, and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg’s giving, including his foundation, corporate, and personal philanthropy as well as Bloomberg Associates, a philanthropic consultancy that advises cities around the world. In 2023, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $3 billion. For more information, please visit bloomberg.org, sign up for our newsletter, or follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, Facebook, and X.
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