The Earthshot Prize: Prince William's Environmental Mission

Of all the causes Prince William has taken up, none is more ambitious than The Earthshot Prize: his bold, optimistic bid to find and scale the world’s best environmental solutions before the decade is out. Launched in 2020, it is the most significant undertaking of his public life so far, and a clear statement of the kind of future king he intends to be: forward-looking, hopeful, and determined to leave the planet in better shape.

The Earthshot Prize is built on a refreshingly positive premise. Rather than dwell on doom, it seeks out the people already solving environmental problems and gives them the money, profile and support to grow. It is environmentalism as encouragement, and it carries the full weight of William’s Royal Foundation behind it.

Here is what the Earthshot Prize is, how it works, and why Prince William made it his mission.

What is the Earthshot Prize?

The Earthshot Prize is a global environmental prize founded in 2020 by Prince William and his Royal Foundation. Its goal is to discover, spotlight and scale up groundbreaking solutions to the most pressing environmental challenges facing the planet, and to do so with urgency, ambition and optimism.

Each year, the Prize awards five winners with £1 million each to help develop and expand their solutions, along with the global exposure and support that come with a royal platform. It runs through to 2030, aiming to award fifty such solutions across the decade: a deliberate, time-limited push to make a measurable difference during what scientists call a decisive ten years for the planet.

The five Earthshots

At the heart of the Prize are five “Earthshots”: simple but ambitious goals that, if achieved, would improve life for everyone on Earth. They are: protect and restore nature; clean our air; revive our oceans; build a waste-free world; and fix our climate.

Each year’s five winners are chosen for their work towards one of these five goals, ensuring the Prize tackles the environmental crisis from every angle at once. Framing the challenge as five clear, achievable “shots” rather than one overwhelming problem is central to the Prize’s hopeful spirit: big goals broken into things that can actually be done.

Inspired by the moonshot

The name is a deliberate nod to history. It draws on President John F. Kennedy’s “moonshot” of the 1960s: the audacious pledge to put a man on the Moon within a decade, which united a nation behind a seemingly impossible goal and drove extraordinary innovation.

William and his team took that spirit and turned it towards the Earth: if humanity could achieve the moonshot, the thinking goes, it can rise to the challenge of repairing the planet with the same urgency, ambition and collective will. It is an inspiring reframing: the environmental crisis not as a burden but as the great challenge of the age, one worth meeting with optimism.

William’s environmental mission

The Earthshot Prize did not come from nowhere. Prince William has a long-standing commitment to conservation and the environment, including his work through United for Wildlife to combat the illegal wildlife trade, and he follows in a distinguished family tradition: both his father, King Charles III, and his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, were pioneering environmental campaigners long before it was fashionable.

The King’s decades of advocacy for the natural world, explored in our piece on King Charles III: a lifetime of causes, clearly shaped his son. With Earthshot, William has taken that inheritance and made it his own: more optimistic in tone, more focused on solutions, and squarely aimed at his own generation and the next.

A global awards ceremony

Each year, the Earthshot Prize stages a glittering awards ceremony that travels to a different host city around the world: a deliberate choice to underline that the environmental challenge, and its solutions, are global. Past ceremonies have brought together environmentalists, celebrities and innovators to celebrate the year’s winners.

The travelling ceremony is more than a show; it is a way of taking the Prize’s message of “urgent optimism” to new audiences and shining a spotlight on solutions wherever they are found. It gives the winners a global stage and reminds the world that progress is not only possible but already happening.

Why the Earthshot Prize matters

The Earthshot Prize matters because it offers something the environmental conversation often lacks: hope backed by action. By finding, funding and celebrating real solutions, it shifts the story from despair to possibility, and lends the credibility and reach of the Crown to people working to save the planet.

For Prince William, it is both a personal passion and a statement of intent about the future of the monarchy: engaged, optimistic and focused on the challenges that will define his reign. Browse more of our Royal Figures stories to explore the causes and convictions of the modern royal family.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Earthshot Prize?

The Earthshot Prize is a global environmental prize founded in 2020 by Prince William and his Royal Foundation. It awards five winners £1 million each every year to develop and scale solutions to the planet’s biggest environmental challenges, running through to 2030.

Who founded the Earthshot Prize?

Prince William, the Prince of Wales, founded the Earthshot Prize in 2020 together with his Royal Foundation. It reflects his long-standing commitment to conservation and the environment.

What are the five Earthshots?

The five Earthshots are: protect and restore nature; clean our air; revive our oceans; build a waste-free world; and fix our climate. Each year’s five winners are chosen for their work towards one of these goals.

How much do Earthshot winners receive?

Each of the five annual Earthshot Prize winners receives £1 million to help scale their environmental solution, along with global exposure and support through the Prize’s network and platform.

Why is it called the Earthshot Prize?

The name is inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s 1960s “moonshot”: the ambitious goal of reaching the Moon within a decade. The Earthshot Prize applies that same urgent, optimistic ambition to repairing the planet.

How long will the Earthshot Prize run?

The Earthshot Prize runs from 2020 to 2030, aiming to award fifty solutions over the decade: ten years identified as an important window for tackling the environmental crisis.

Details of the Earthshot Prize are drawn from the Royal Foundation and earthshotprize.org; figures are described as of 2026.