Thousands of fans waited hours to greet Prince William at Singapore’s Jewel Changi Airport on Tuesday as the royal arrived for the third annual Earthshot Prize awards. The heir to the British throne was greeted by crowds holding signs, waving Union Jack flags and clutching photos of his late mother Princess Diana. The horde cheered as the royal waved and walked among them. He was accompanied by wife Kate and their 10-year-old son Prince George.
A maker of solar-powered dryers, a soil carbon marketplace and groups that make electric car batteries cleaner and restore Andean forests were among the 15 winners at the award ceremony. Britain’s Prince William, whose Royal Foundation charity launched the prize in 2020, praised this year’s winners and said that the solutions they are developing demonstrate that “hope does remain” as climate change worsens.
This year’s winners include a team from the Netherlands that makes a battery-free power supply for laptops, and an American entrepreneur who created a platform to match buyers with unused electronics to those who need them. Other prizes went to an Indian maker of solar-powered irrigation systems and a company that offers an online marketplace for carbon credits. The event also celebrated the work of global non-profit WildAid, which works with governments to bolster enforcement to deter illegal wildlife poaching and strengthen ocean conservation.
The event was held in partnership with the Singapore Economic Development Board, which is supporting the prize for the fourth time. It was also endorsed by the World Economic Forum and the Aspen Institute.
Unlike other global awards, this one is based solely on a submission that includes both the product and its impact. This allows it to focus on “what is needed and what can be done,” the organizers said in a statement. The winners are chosen by an expert panel.
The finalists will each receive $1 million to scale up their innovations. They will also be invited to join a global network of environmental innovators. They will be eligible to apply for future rounds of the prize and could ultimately win up to $10 million.
Articulation is an annual competition for high school students that aims to develop their critical thinking and presentation skills. Students must present a visual-based presentation about a piece of art or architecture to an adjudicator and an audience. Students who advance to the semi-finals and finals are given feedback by a panel of judges. This year, readers also had a say in the Readers’ Favorite exercise by voting online for their favorite shortlisted book in each of the four languages. The winners, Ali bin Salim, Daryl Qilin Yam, Pan Zheng Lei (Pan Cheng Lui) and rma cureess (Rama Suresh), each received a Readers’ Favorite prize worth 1,000 Singapore dollars ($720). More than 4,000 voters participated, double the number from last year. For more information, visit the website of the contest.