At a glittering Rio ceremony, Prince William celebrates five projects tackling climate change, calling them “proof that progress is possible”

Prince William has announced the five winners of the 2025 Earthshot Prize at a star-studded ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, praising them as “an inspiration that gives us courage” and “proof that progress is possible.”

Speaking at the city’s Museum of Tomorrow on Wednesday evening, the Prince of Wales hailed the innovators behind projects restoring forests, cleaning the air, protecting oceans and building sustainable futures. “When I founded the Earthshot Prize in 2020, we had a 10-year goal: to make this the decade in which we transformed our world for the better,” he told guests. “We set out to tackle environmental issues head-on and make real, lasting changes that would protect life on Earth.”

Each winner received a £1 million grant to expand their work. The event was attended by political leaders, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, alongside global celebrities such as Kylie Minogue, Shawn Mendes, Anitta, and Brazilian singer Seu Jorge.

Minogue performed a medley of her hits, including Padam Padam and Can’t Get You Out of My Head, while Mendes and Anitta kept the night’s tone celebratory. Brazilian football icon Cafu, Olympic champion Rebeca Andrade and former Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel joined as award presenters.

The 2025 winners represent a diverse range of environmental solutions:

• Protect and Restore Nature: re. green (Brazil), making conservation of the Atlantic Forest financially viable through sustainable business models.
  
• Clean Our Air: City of Bogotá (Colombia)  pioneering clean-air zones and green urban policies to reduce pollution.
  
• Revive Our Oceans: The High Seas Treaty, a new global agreement coming into effect in 2026 to safeguard marine life and biodiversity.
  
• Build a Waste-Free World: Lagos Fashion Week (Nigeria)  championing designers who commit to sustainable practices and circular production.
  
• Fix Our Climate: Friendship (Bangladesh)  supporting vulnerable communities with access to healthcare, education and climate resilience.
  

“This prize gives us validation and momentum,” said re. Green CEO Thiago Picolo. “It shows that protecting the planet can also make economic sense and opens the door to important conversations with investors and corporations.”

Prince William described the winners as “innovators” whose “determination, vision for scale, and unyielding belief that we can create a better world” embody the spirit of the Earthshot mission. Christiana Figueres, chair of the Earthshot board of trustees, called them proof of a “global legacy of collective action born here in Rio.”

Founded in 2020 and inspired by US President John F Kennedy’s “Moonshot” challenge, the Earthshot Prize sets five major environmental goals: to protect and restore nature, clean our air, revive oceans, build a waste-free world and fix the climate. This year’s ceremony marks the halfway point in the prize’s 10-year journey.

Earlier in the day, Prince William met the 15 finalists at Rio’s Christ the Redeemer statue, recreating the famous photograph taken by his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, 34 years ago. His five-day visit to Brazil has focused on environmental issues, including a speech on deforestation at the United for Wildlife conference and a mangrove restoration project on the island of Paquetá.

On Thursday, the prince will travel to Belém, in the Amazon rainforest, to deliver a speech at COP30, the UN’s annual climate summit.

As the evening drew to a close, William told guests the 2025 winners represented “a mission driven by extraordinary optimism.” He added: “Their impact fuels my belief that the next five years can define the future of our planet and together, we can build that better world.”