William announces Earthshot Prize 2025 winners in Rio ceremony

The Tropical Forest Restoration Project and the Global Ocean Compact Initiative are among this year's Earthshot Prize winners.

The winners, named at an awards ceremony in Brazil on Wednesday, will each receive £1 million to expand their climate restoration projects.

The Prince of Wales, who launched the global environment prize in 2020, said the winners were an “inspiration” and “proof that progress is possible”.

Brazilian football legend Cafu, Olympic champion Rebeca Andrade and former Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel were among the presenters, while pop stars Kylie Minogue and Shawn Mendes performed at the ceremony at the Museum of Tomorrow in Rio de Janeiro.

The event was also attended by British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan.

Prince William, the prize's president, told those gathered at the ceremony that he created the prize with the aim of doing “this a decade in which we changed our world for the better.”

“We intend to address environmental issues and make real, lasting changes that will protect life on Earth.”

The award was inspired by former US President John F. Kennedy's Moonshot project, which challenged scientists to safely transport astronauts to the Moon and back.

There are five Earthshots, or the goals for which the award is given: Protect and restore nature; Clean our air; Revitalize our oceans; Build a world without waste; and fix our climate.

The future king devoted himself to this prize for 10 years, and Rio became the intermediate stage of this enterprise.

This year there were approximately 2,500 nominees from 72 countries. From these, 15 finalists were selected, from which five winners were selected.

• Protect and restore nature: re.green in Brazil is making protecting one of the world's most important ecosystems, the Atlantic Forest, financially viable.
• Clean our air: The city of Bogotá has shown how public policy can lead to lasting change through means such as creating clean air zones and greening degraded areas in the Colombian capital.
• Revitalize Our Oceans: The High Seas Treaty is a global ocean initiative that, among other things, will define clear measures to conserve marine life and will come into force in January 2026.
• Build a world without waste: Lagos Fashion Week in Nigeria is redefining the industry: every designer who wants to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability is required to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability.
• Fix our climate: Friendship aims to help vulnerable communities across Bangladesh on issues ranging from access to government services, healthcare, education and disaster preparedness.

re.green CEO Thiago Picolo said winning the Protect & Restore Nature Award puts the organization “on the right track.”

“Receiving such a prize is a confirmation for us, helps us understand that we are moving in the right direction, facilitates the negotiations that we need to have with banks, capital providers, corporations,” he said.

Calling the winners “innovators,” Prince William called the Earthshot Prize “a mission driven by the extraordinary optimism we have felt here tonight.”

“We can learn a lot from their determination, their vision of scale and their unyielding belief that we can create a better world.”

Chair of the board of trustees Christiana Figueres said they are creating a “global legacy.”

“These winners are proof that the spirit of collective action that began here in Rio continues to become stronger, more decisive and more relevant than ever.

“Their goals for 2030 are deeply ambitious, but their impact to date, their plans and their tenacity fuel my optimism.”

Earlier in the day, Prince William met the 15 finalists during a visit to the Christ the Redeemer statue, where he posed for a photograph in the same spot as his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, 34 years ago.

But much of the prince's five-day visit to Brazil was devoted to climate and the environment.

On Tuesday, he criticized criminals for their involvement in deforestation of the Amazon rainforest during a speech at the United for Wildlife conference.

He also visited the small island of Paqueta, where he met local people, learned about mangrove conservation and planted tree seedlings.

On Thursday he will travel to Belem in the Amazon rainforest, where he plans to give a speech at COP30, the annual UN meeting on climate change.