Earthshot Prize: Prince William Calls for Urgent Action on Climate Challenges
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Climate Change
Move faster to solve climate challenges, Prince William says
Image source: Reuters
By Daniela Relph, Senior royal correspondent
Published 1 hour ago
The Prince of Wales has warned that the world needs to move faster to solve the biggest climate challenges.
"We're not moving fast enough. We need more businesses, investors and leaders to step up, back what works, and help bring these solutions to scale," William stated.
His warning came as this year's nominees for the Earthshot Prize, the global environmental award he launched six years ago, were unveiled.
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Earthshot remains one of the key priorities of Prince William's public work.
"Around the world, people are proving every day that we can restore nature and tackle climate challenges. Our 2026 finalists are an incredible example of that," he added.
Among the 15 finalists is the entire city of Barcelona, recognised for its efforts to safeguard its Mediterranean coastline. The city's architects were praised for "turning one of Europe's most intensively used urban coastlines into a global blueprint for climate adaptation".
Image source: Getty Images
The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan was also selected, with the prize recognising how the country has embedded environmental protection into its national identity and constitution. The prize noted that Bhutan had demonstrated "how a small nation's forests can safeguard water security across an entire region."
The finalists also include community-led initiatives tackling waste reduction, nature restoration, and clean energy challenges such as Indigenous ranger teams in Australia and an Argentinian artificial intelligence-powered wildfire detection and alert platform.
Two finalists are from India, which will host this year's Earthshot Prize awards ceremony in Mumbai. They are Mahindra Last Mile Mobility, a leading manufacturer of electric three-wheelers, and the Mahila Housing Trust, a grassroots organisation pioneering climate resilience initiatives for low-income women.
The finalists were selected from nearly 7,000 nominations submitted across 169 countries.
Five winners, one from each of the five Earthshot categories—protect and restore nature, revive our oceans, clean our air, build a waste-free world, and fix our climate—will be announced at the ceremony in November. Each will receive a £1m prize to help expand their project.
The Earthshot Prize Council, which selects the winners, includes Prince William, alongside Queen Rania al-Abdullah of Jordan, actress Cate Blanchett, and chef José Andrés.
"The solutions are here. The challenge now is scale. That's exactly why The Earthshot Prize exists," William concluded.
Image source: PA Media
It has been a challenging week for the royals with allegations from Prince William's uncle, Earl Spencer, regarding his parents. However, Prince William and his brother, the Duke of Sussex, have not made any public comment on the issue.