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The Prince of Wales' Earthshot Prize is heading to South America for the first time. The fifth annual Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this November ahead of the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30).
“2025 marks the midway point of the Earthshot decade and each year we’ve witnessed the remarkable power of human ingenuity in addressing our planet's most pressing challenges," Prince William, founder and president of The Earthshot Prize, said in a statement.
"As we bring The Earthshot Prize to Brazil, a nation rich in biodiversity and environmental innovation, we are seeing fresh momentum for new ideas to create healthier and safer ways to live our lives. It is an honor to profile the people making our world a better place for us and for our children," His Royal Highness continued.
The heir to the throne announced the 2025 location in a video featuring David Beckham, Hannah Waddingham, Heidi Klum, Cate Blanchett, Robert Irwin and more on Thursday, April 3.
"I think Brazil really optimizes where the prize needs to land. The culture of Brazil the fact we've got COP30 there," Prince William said in the video. The royal dad of three also pointed out, "We need urgent optimism now more than ever and I think Brazil epitomizes that and I can't believe we are at the halfway point of 10 years."
David Beckham expressed his excitement in the location announcement, saying, "I'm so so excited." The former soccer star described Brazil as a place "where nature and culture go hand in hand."
© Getty ImagesThe Earthshot Prize noted in a press release that "Brazil plays a critical role in global efforts to protect and restore precious natural resources and ecosystems. Home to vast cities, an expansive coastline, and more than half of the Amazon Rainforest, innovators and indigenous communities are at the forefront of developing solutions that combine science, technology, and the power of the natural environment to reduce emissions, clean our air, and ensure our ecosystems remain healthy, strong, and diverse."
© Yui Mok - WPA Pool/Getty ImagesThis year marks the fifth Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony. It has previously been held in Cape Town, Singapore, Boston and London.
Prince William founded the Earthshot Prize, which was inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s Moonshot, in 2020 to incentivize change and help repair our planet over the next ten years. Every year this decade, Prince William and the Earthshot Prize Council are awarding £1 million to five winners, one per Earthshot: Protect and Restore Nature; Clean our Air; Revive our Oceans; Build a Waste-Free World; and Fix our Climate. Since the first ceremony in 2021, the Earthshot Prize has awarded £20 million to prize winners to help scale their solutions.
