The Earthshot Prize Announces Climate Action Leader Michael R. Bloomberg as Global Advisor to the Prize Winners
The Earthshot Prize adds to its unprecedented network of advocates with UN Special Envoy Bloomberg appointment.
Follows on from the announcement of first-ever 15 Earthshot Finalists from around the world earlier this month.
Inaugural awards ceremony to be held in London and broadcast globally on Sunday 17th October.
The Earthshot Prize today announced that leading climate action advocate Michael R. Bloomberg, the U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions, founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies and 108th mayor of New York City, has been appointed as the Global Advisor to the Winners of The Earthshot Prize.
In this role, Bloomberg will draw on his global network of government, business and philanthropic leaders and harness the resources and expertise within his company and philanthropy to help scale and replicate the Prize Winners’ solutions.
Launched by Prince William and The Royal Foundation in October 2020, The Earthshot Prize is the most prestigious global environment prize in history. Inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s ‘Moonshot’ programme in the 1960’s, which united millions of people around the goal of reaching the moon, The Earthshot Prize aims to inspire collective action around our unique ability to innovate, problem solve and ultimately repair our planet.
The Earthshot Prize is centred around five ‘Earthshot’ goals: Protect and Restore Nature; Clean our Air; Revive our Oceans; Build a Waste-Free World; and Fix our Climate. Five £1 million prizes will be awarded each year for the next 10 years, providing at least 50 solutions to the world’s greatest environmental problems by 2030.
The first-ever Earthshot Prize Finalists were publicly announced by Prince William on Friday, September 17. The incredible group includes a 14-year-old innovator and activist whose solar-powered ironing cart could help reduce air pollution across India, the City of Milan and its food waste hub initiative which is cutting waste and tackling hunger as well as the China’s first public environmental database.
Bloomberg has supported The Earthshot Prize since its inception, including support for the design of the Prize in 2019. Bloomberg Philanthropies is a Global Alliance Founding Partner and is supporting Generation Earthshot, an educational programme to engage young people in solving today’s biggest environmental challenges. Bloomberg L.P. is also a Member of the Global Alliance, and alongside an international network of influential organisations, will provide the Finalists and Winners with unparalleled support to accelerate and implement their ambitious environmental solutions.
In a joint op-ed in today’s USA Today, Prince William and Michael R. Bloomberg highlighted the importance of urgency, optimism and innovation if we are to repair our planet in the next decade, writing: “The science tells us that this is the decade to act. We see an incredible new global wave of innovators and entrepreneurs turning crises into opportunities, developing breakthrough solutions that can regenerate our planet while stimulating livelihoods. It’s an unseen movement that we are determined will become a powerful engine behind a new growth economy, and a new, better way of life for all.”
Through its Global Alliance, The Earthshot Prize will bring together funders, businesses, NGOs and individuals to take solutions to scale. Thanks to support from businesses and individuals like Bloomberg, The Earthshot Prize is designed to inspire future generations of innovators and leaders by incentivizing, rewarding and celebrating the pioneers who are creating a more sustainable future for people and the planet.
Personally, investing more than $1 billion in the global fight against climate change, Bloomberg is globally recognized for his work to accelerate climate action. This includes supporting the global phaseout of coal power through the Beyond Coal movement and leading a range of efforts to support U.S. cities, states, businesses, and organizations to drive down greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
In addition to leading a wide range of global climate initiatives, Bloomberg is President of the Board of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, Co-Chair of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, Global Ambassador for Race to Zero and Race to Resilience, Chair of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, and Chair of the Climate Finance Leaders Initiative, uniquely qualifying him to offer guidance and advice to help the five Winners’ innovations flourish and succeed.
All 15 Earthshot Prize Finalists will receive tailored support and resources from The Earthshot Prize Global Alliance Members, an unprecedented network of private sector businesses around the world who will help scale their solutions to realise an even greater impact with their ground-breaking work.
The five Winners will be selected by The Earthshot Prize Council, a diverse team of influential individuals, including HRH Prince William, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, Sir David Attenborough, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Indra Nooyi, Shakira Mebarak, Christiana Figueres, Luisa Neubauer, Cate Blanchett, Yao Ming, Daniel Alves Da Silva, Ernest Gibson, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Jack Ma, and Naoko Yamazaki. The five winners will receive £1million in prize money at the inaugural ceremony on 17th October in London, broadcast by BBC ONE in the UK and globally on discovery+.
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For more information about The Earthshot Prize, visit: www.earthshotprize.org
Social media: @earthshotprize / Instagram: @dukeandduchessofcambridge Twitter: @KensingtonRoyal / #EarthshotPrize / #EarthshotLondon2021
Media Contacts:
– The Earthshot Prize: TEPMedia@freuds.com
– Bloomberg Philanthropies: Daphne Wang, +1-646-771-1473 / daphne@bloomberg.org
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About The Earthshot Prize
The Earthshot Prize is the most prestigious environmental prize in history, launched in October 2020 by Prince William and designed and incubated by The Royal Foundation, an organisation which mobilises leaders, businesses and people so that together we can address society’s greatest challenges. Led by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, The Royal Foundation’s work is built on world-class research, long-term partnerships, and measurable, scalable impact.
The Earthshot Prize is designed to incentivise change and help to repair our planet over the next ten years. The Prize is backed by The Earthshot Prize Council, a global team of influential individuals, who will be responsible for awarding The Earthshot Prize every year from 2021 until 2030.
About Michael R. Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg has long been a global leader in the fight against climate change. As three-term mayor of New York City, he implemented a groundbreaking strategic sustainability plan and reduced carbon emissions by 13 percent, positioning the city as a model for climate action around the world. His foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, focuses on the environment as one of its key program areas, and he has given more than $1 billion to the global climate fight. Bloomberg serves as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions, as well as Global Ambassador for the Race to Zero and Race to Resilience campaigns.
Bloomberg leads a number of efforts that are making progress in the global climate fight. He serves as president of the board of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and co-chairs the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy and the “America Is All In” coalition. He also created the American Cities Climate Challenge to help the largest U.S. cities make more progress reducing carbon emissions in support of the Paris Agreement goals.
Through the U.S. Beyond Coal campaign, Bloomberg has worked with environmental organizations to retire more than 65% of all U.S. coal plants since 2011 – and in 2017, he expanded the effort to Europe, where Europe Beyond Coal has retired 50% of the continent’s plants. Building on this progress, he also launched Beyond Carbon, the largest-ever coordinated campaign to take on the climate crisis in the U.S., which aims to retire all domestic coal plants by 2030 and stop the construction of new gas plants.
Bloomberg has been instrumental in involving the financial community in the fight against climate change. He serves as chair of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, which develops recommendations to help companies disclose information on the climate-related risks and opportunities they face. And at the UN Secretary-General’s request, he formed the Climate Finance Leadership Initiative with other influential private sector leaders to accelerate investments in climate solutions.
Bloomberg also collaborates with partners and countries around the world to protect marine ecosystems and preserve coral reefs.
About The Earthshot Prize Global Alliance
The Earthshot Prize is supported by its Global Alliance, an unprecedented network of organisations worldwide which share the ambition of the Prize. Within the Global Alliance are:
· The Global Alliance Founding Partners are a group of leading global organisations and philanthropists which act as strategic funding partners to the Prize, including Aga Khan Development Network, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Breakthrough Energy Foundation, Coleman Family Ventures, DP World in partnership with Dubai EXPO 2020, Jack Ma Foundation, Marc and Lynne Benioff, Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and Rob & Melani Walton Foundation.
· Global Alliance Partners are non-profit environment and sustainable development organisations that bring expertise, global reach and serve as nominating organisations each year. For full list see website: Global Alliance – Earthshot Prize
· Global Alliance Members are some of the world’s largest and most influential companies and brands who 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, Walmart.
The Earthshot Prize Finalists for 2021 are:
Protect and Restore Nature:
– Pole Pole Foundation, Democratic Republic of Congo
An inspiring community-led model of conservation that protects gorillas and local livelihoods.
– The Republic of Costa Rica
A pioneering scheme paying local citizens to restore natural ecosystems that has led to a revival of the rainforest.
– Restor, Switzerland
A ground-breaking online platform connecting and empowering local conservation projects.
Clean our Air:
– The Blue Map App, China
China’s first public environmental database enabling citizens to hold polluters to account.
– Takachar, India
A pioneering technology to create profitable products from agricultural waste and put a stop to the burning of crops.
– Vinisha Umashankar, India
A 14-year-old innovator and activist who has designed a solar-powered ironing cart with the potential to improve air quality across India.
Revive our Oceans:
– Coral Vita, Bahamas
A truly cutting-edge breakthrough in coral farming that can restore our world’s dying coral reefs.
– Living Seawalls, Australia
Innovative and replicable seawall panels bringing marine life back to coastal sea defences.
– Pristine Seas, USA
An unprecedented global conservation programme protecting 6.5 million square km of the world’s ocean.
Build a Waste-Free World:
– The City of Milan Food Waste Hubs, Italy
A city-wide initiative that has dramatically cut waste while tackling hunger.
– Sanergy, Kenya
A circular sanitation solution that converts human waste into safe products for local farmers.
– WOTA BOX, Japan
A tiny water treatment plant that turns 98% of wastewater into clean water.
Fix our Climate:
– AEM Electrolyser, Thailand/Germany/Italy
An ingenious green hydrogen technology developed to transform how we power our homes and buildings.
– Reeddi Capsules, Nigeria
Solar-powered energy capsules making electricity affordable and accessible in energy-poor communities.
– SOLbazaar, Bangladesh
The world’s first peer-to-peer energy exchange network in a country on the front-line of climate change.