On November 6, 2025, the world’s environmental spotlight turned to Rio de Janeiro, as the Museum of Tomorrow hosted the dazzling Earthshot Prize Awards Night. The event, now in its fifth year, is quickly establishing itself as the most prestigious recognition for environmental innovation and impact. Hosted by Brazilian broadcaster Luciano Huck, the evening was a vibrant celebration, featuring performances by Brazilian pop icon Anitta and international superstar Kylie Minogue, who performed a medley of her greatest hits, including "Padam, Padam" and "Can't Get You Out of My Head," according to BBC coverage. The guest list sparkled with luminaries from the worlds of entertainment, sports, and politics, including Prince William, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, football legend Cafu, Olympic gymnast Rebeca Andrade, and former Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel.
The Earthshot Prize, founded by Prince William in 2020, was inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s Moonshot challenge and set out with a bold ten-year mission: to drive transformative, lasting change for the planet by 2030. As Prince William told attendees, “When I founded the Earthshot Prize in 2020, we had a 10-year goal: to make this the decade in which we transformed our world for the better. We set out to tackle environmental issues head on and make real, lasting changes that would protect life on Earth.” He described the winners as “proof that progress is possible” and “an inspiration that gives us courage.”
Each year, five winners are chosen—one in each of the Prize’s categories: Protect and Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build a Waste-Free World, and Fix Our Climate. Each laureate receives a £1 million grant to advance or replicate their work, a significant boost to projects that are often as ambitious as they are urgent. This year’s winners were selected from nearly 2,500 nominees submitted by 575 nominators from 72 countries, a testament to the Prize’s rapidly growing global reach.
The 2025 Earthshot Prize winners reflect a remarkable breadth of innovation and impact. In the Protect and Restore Nature category, Rio-based re.green was honored for its pioneering work in making the restoration of the Atlantic Forest financially viable. Operating across 30,000 hectares in four Brazilian states, re.green uses artificial intelligence, drones, and satellite imagery to identify land with the greatest restoration potential. Their approach not only allows nature to return and thrive but also generates revenue through high-quality carbon credits and sustainable timber—providing a powerful incentive for long-term stewardship. With a target to restore 200,000 hectares by 2030 and one million by 2040, re.green’s CEO, Thiago Picolo, told BBC, “Winning a prize like this is validation for us, helps us know we're going in the right direction, facilitates conversations we need to have with banks, capital providers, corporates.”
In the Clean Our Air category, the City of Bogotá, Colombia, was celebrated for its dramatic reduction of air pollution—down 24% since 2018—even as the population swelled to nearly 8 million. Bogotá’s comprehensive approach includes clean air zones, re-greening degraded areas, developing Latin America’s largest cycle path network, and building one of the world’s biggest electric bus fleets. The city has set ambitious goals: to cut greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Winning the Earthshot Prize will enable Bogotá to launch a second low-emission zone in 2026 and share its blueprint with ten other cities worldwide.
The Revive Our Oceans award went to the High Seas Treaty, a landmark global initiative that will officially enter into force in January 2026 after its 60th ratification in September 2025. The Treaty establishes the first-ever global legal framework for Marine Protected Areas on the high seas, setting out measures to prevent overfishing, conserve ocean life, and ensure fair participation for developing countries. By 2030, the Treaty aims to be universally ratified, with at least three High Seas Marine Protected Areas adopted and more in the pipeline. The Earthshot Prize will directly support the creation of the first protected area under this new regime.
Perhaps the most electrifying moment for Africa came when Lagos Fashion Week was awarded the Build a Waste-Free World prize. Founded in 2011 by Omoyemi Akerele, Lagos Fashion Week has evolved from a regional showcase into a global force for sustainable fashion. Every designer wishing to participate must demonstrate a commitment to sustainable practices, from sourcing and dyeing materials to garment production and transportation. The event’s innovative programs—such as Green Access and Woven Threads—champion upcycling, slow fashion, and regenerative craft, and have become pillars of a new consciousness in African fashion. Akerele’s vision is to replicate Lagos Fashion Week’s model across other African capitals by 2030, including Kigali, Dakar, and Accra. The £1 million prize will help accelerate these plans. As sustainable fashion platform founder Cassandra Dittmer Nweze told The Ethos, “We believe that fashion can be both beautiful and conscious. What matters most to us is connection beyond transaction.”
The Fix Our Climate category recognized Friendship, a Bangladeshi social purpose organization founded by Runa Khan in 2002. From humble beginnings as a floating hospital, Friendship now reaches over 7.5 million people annually, providing emergency food support, safe drinking water, and disaster relief. By 2030, Friendship aims to protect 7,000 kilometers of coastline through mangrove and wetland restoration and expand disaster relief to 50 million people. The Earthshot Prize will be instrumental in scaling up these life-saving efforts.
The selection process for the Prize is rigorous. The Earthshot Prize Council, chaired by Christiana Figueres—architect of the Paris Climate Accord—includes global leaders such as Queen Rania Al Abdullah, Cate Blanchett, Indra Nooyi, José Andrés, Wanjira Mathai, Nemonte Nenquimo, Luisa Neubauer, Naoko Yamazaki, Ernest Gibson, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and philanthropist Gisele Bündchen. Each of the 15 finalists receives support to scale their impact, including access to the Prize’s global platform and alliance of businesses, donors, investors, and environmental organizations.
Reflecting on the event’s location, Prince William remarked, “There feels a real symmetry in being here in Rio this year – climate has come home! So much of climate progress started in this city in 1992. To be here now for The Earthshot Prize Summit and Awards Night – at the halfway point of this critical decade – and ten years on from Paris – feels momentous.” Christiana Figueres echoed this sentiment: “These winners are proof that the spirit of collective action born here in Rio continues to grow stronger, more determined, and more urgent than ever. Their 2030 aims are deeply ambitious – but their impact to date, their plans in place, and their tenacity fuels my optimism.”
The Earthshot Prize 2025 not only celebrates remarkable achievements but also signals a turning point in the global fight for environmental sustainability. With winners spanning four continents and tackling challenges from deforestation and air pollution to ocean conservation and waste, the event in Rio underscored a critical truth: the solutions we need are already being built. It’s just a matter of scaling them up—and ensuring the world takes notice.
