The Earthshot Prize and Bloomberg Philanthropies Highlight Environmental Innovators Driving Impact Throughout London Climate Action Week
HRH Prince William and Michael R. Bloomberg joined London Mayor Sadiq Khan, Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes, Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters, and more to discuss climate solutions and identify opportunities for action with The Earthshot Prize’s 2024 Finalists
London – This week during the seventh annual London Climate Action Week, HRH Prince William and Michael R. Bloomberg convened business, philanthropic, and political leaders with Earthshot Prize innovators for four impact-led events designed to drive real action and momentum in repairing and restoring our planet’s health. The Earthshot Prize and Bloomberg Philanthropies brought together the Earthshot Prize’s 15 2024 Finalists together with business leaders, city leaders, and climate investors to showcase their progress and develop new strategies and connections to accelerate action.
Speaking at the event, Prince William, Founder & President of The Earthshot Prize said “The Prize is the pinnacle of the ability to showcase all the brilliant people who are working in the space to better the planet, better our futures, and to make life more sustainable”. He continued: “I’m really proud of how the solutions have come together and the impact they’ve had. We’ve restored 170,000 sq. km of land and oceans, we’ve sequestered 420,000 tonnes of CO2, and we’ve benefitted 4.4 million people so far.” The Prince also urged those in the room and beyond to join forces: “No one person or one thing that can fix this. It is politicians, it’s business, it’s solution makers, it’s innovators, it’s business leaders. The whole thing has to come together to really have the impact we need.”
“The steps we take to prevent climate change also present many opportunities to improve public health, grow the economy, and create new jobs,” said Mike Bloomberg, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions and Founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies. “Bloomberg Philanthropies has been glad to support The Earthshot Prize since the beginning, and I’ve been honored to serve as an advisor. Meeting the challenge of climate change will require connecting more innovators with investors – and building more partnerships across the public and private sectors. The fact is: national governments can’t solve this challenge alone. It will take all of us.”
Moderated by Bloomberg Editor-at-Large Francine Lacqua and Earthshot Prize Ambassador Robert Irwin, Tuesday’s event at Bloomberg LP’s European Headquarters featured influential climate figures who have sparked change and inspired bold action in the public and private sectors. During a panel discussion, Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, emphasized the importance of combining environmental change with business opportunities, saying, “When you bring sustainable together with commercialization, then you have the opportunity to scale. You have the opportunity to have a real impact.”
“This year, thanks to the Earthshot Prize, we were able to actually launch the rapid deployment mechanism, which really enables small grants for developing countries in order to be able to catalyze and kick start their efforts on 30 by 30 specifically,” said Rita Maria El Zaghloul, Director of the High Ambition Coalition and 2024 Earthshot Prize Winner. “So it’s really trying to maintain and sustain that political momentum, but with the technical and, hopefully, innovative and financial support as well.”
Two mayoral hosts of The Earthshot Prize – Mayor of London Sadiq Khan from the inaugural awards in London in 2021, and Mayor of Rio de Janeiro Eduardo Paes for the 2025 awards in Rio de Janeiro – discussed how cities can champion innovation, engage communities, and accelerate climate solutions, including through the COP30 Local Leaders Forum and C40 World Mayors Summit that will both be held in Rio before COP30.
“When it comes to climate change, you’ll find the energy, the vibrancy, the dynamism in cities and mayors. Mike, your leadership has been integral to this, and your partnership with Prince William gives us confidence that The Earthshot Prize is going to be a huge success,” said Mayor Sadiq Khan.
Mayor Eduardo Paes said, “The fact that we are gathering local governments with C40, with Bloomberg Philanthropies, it’s always an opportunity to show what are the solutions that cities can give… You can show things, and you can copy from one city to another. To have the Earthshot Prize brings a different approach and opportunities and taps a lot of different things in our city. I know it will be an amazing opportunity for Rio and for the debate on climate change.”
The week of impact began on Monday, June 23 with remarks from Professor Larry Kramer, President and Vice Chancellor of the LSE, followed by a series of talks and sessions on artificial intelligence from Parmy Olson, Bloomberg News, and Shashi Buluswar, CEO of the Institute for Transformative Technologies, and a session with Safeena Hussain, Founder of Educate Girls, on financing a movement through unconventional capital.
On Wednesday, June 25, Earthshot Finalists joined the UK’s largest assembly of sustainable finance professionals for Impact in Action. In partnership with the City of London, the Finalists showcased their efforts in driving climate action. Then, on Thursday, June 26, at the City of London’s Guildhall, Earthshot Finalists networked with potential funders and grant makers. During the Investing For Impact event, HRH Prince William and ‘Tokunboh Ishamael, Earthshot Founding Trustee, emphasized that supporting nature solutions isn’t just good for the planet, but has huge economic potential too. Kevin Sheekey, Global Head of External Relations, Bloomberg LP, spoke to the importance of funding in driving the solutions to the planet’s greatest challenges.
“What excites me the most about the Earthshot Prize portfolio is the passionate drive for innovation,” said ‘Tokunboh Ishamael, Earthshot Founding Trustee and Impact Investor. “We’re closing the gap between impact and investability. We no longer need to sacrifice financial returns for impact – these go hand in hand. The most resilient, scalable climate solutions are increasingly the ones that are inclusive by design and commercially viable by default.”
“In a world that often feels divided, Prince William is one of the very rare public figures who can bring people together, not around politics, but around purpose,” said Kevin Sheekey, Global Head of External Relations, Bloomberg LP. “The Earthshot Innovators here today were chosen because they bring a clarity of vision and have teams that can execute – because innovation is rarely a solo act. Earthshot is not just a prize. It’s a bet on people like the people in this room. It’s a bet on bold ideas backed by brave teams and smart capital that can change the course of history.”
London Climate Action Week is the biggest city-wide climate festival in Europe, attracting over 45,000 people. This series of powerful summits was supported by Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, in their roles as Global Alliance Member and Global Alliance Founding Partner for The Earthshot Prize, respectively.
About The Earthshot Prize:
For more information about The Earthshot Prize, visit: www.earthshotprize.org
For more information about the 2024 Earthshot Prize Finalists, visit: https://earthshotprize.org/winners-finalists-listing/?filter-year=2024
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Founded by Prince William and incubated in the The Royal Foundation in 2020 for a year before becoming an independent platform/organisation, 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 organisations and philanthropists, which act as strategic funding partners to the Prize, including Aga Khan Development Network, Bezos Earth Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Breakthrough Energy Foundation, Builders Vision , Coleman Family Ventures, DP World, Elaine and Eduardo Saverin Foundation, Eleven Eleven Foundation, Giving Grousbeck Fazzalari, Holch Povlsen Foundation, Law Family Charitable Foundation, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, 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 organisations that bring expertise, global reach and serve as nominating organisations each year. For a full list of our Global Alliance Partners, visit: https://earthshotprize.org/people-partners/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., British Airways, Deloitte, Herbert Smith Freehills, Hitachi, Ingka Group (IKEA), Microsoft, The Multichoice Group, Natura &Co, Safaricom, Salesforce, Unilever, Vodacom Group, and Walmart.
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 2024, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $3.7 billion. For more information, please visit bloomberg.org, sign up for our newsletter, or follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, Facebook, and X.
Media Contact:
Marshall Cohen, mcohen@bloomberg.org