Albedo Weekly

Supporter feature · The Earthshot Prize 2026

Mumbai, 17 November: fifteen answers to the climate question

For the first time, Prince William's Earthshot Prize holds its Awards Night in India. Five winners will each receive £1 million to scale solutions that already work. We follow every finalist.

24days to go Awards Night · 17 November 2026 · Mumbai
Gateway of India, Mumbai
Fig. 1 · Gateway of India, Mumbai. The Awards Night city on 17 November. Photo: SriSriChinmaya, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What the prize is

Prince William founded The Earthshot Prize in 2020 to find and scale solutions to the planet's biggest environmental problems within this decade. Every year it names fifteen finalists and five winners, one for each Earthshot.

The 2026 Awards Night takes place in Mumbai, hosted by Karan Johar.

Official information: earthshotprize.org

The five Earthshots

  1. Protect and Restore Nature
  2. Clean Our Air
  3. Revive Our Oceans
  4. Build a Waste-Free World
  5. Fix Our Climate

The 2026 finalists

Fifteen projects from cities, companies, countries and grassroots groups. The summaries below are our own; follow each project's own website for more.

World map with the home countries of the fifteen finalists
Fig. 2 · Where the 2026 finalists come from. Map: Natural Earth, public domain

Protect and Restore Nature

Gibson Desert, Western Australia
Photo: Gazjo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Australia

Indigenous Desert Alliance

Links about 70 Indigenous ranger teams across roughly 270 million hectares of desert for fire management and species recovery, led by communities.

Project website
Forested valley, Bhutan
Photo: Mussi Katz, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Bhutan

Bhutan

Protects forests and watersheds; restoring 50,000 hectares of degraded land by 2030 via Restore Bhutan.

Project website
Moraine Lake, Banff National Park, Canada
Photo: Gorgo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Canada (with US)

Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative

Reconnects about 2,100 miles of mountain habitat through protection, wildlife crossings and Indigenous partnerships.

Project website

Clean Our Air

Electric rickshaws, Uttar Pradesh, India
Photo: N. Vivekananthamoorthy, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

India

Mahindra Last Mile Mobility

Makes electric three-wheelers and small vehicles, with financing, charging and driver/repair training for women.

Project website
Traffic in Kampala, Uganda
Photo: SharonDawn, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Uganda

AirQo

Deploys affordable air-quality monitors and AI to fill pollution data gaps across African cities.

Project website

Revive Our Oceans

Container ship entering Tokyo harbour
Photo: Syced, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

USA (global alliance)

Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA)

Nearly 50 cargo owners pool demand for multi-year zero-emission shipping commitments.

Project website
Sea track to the reef, Niue
Photo: Pseudopanax, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Niue

Niue Ocean Wide Trust

Builds a long-term marine protection fund by selling annual Ocean Conservation Commitments.

Project website
The Barcelona coastline
Photo: Alexander Kachkaev, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Spain

The City of Barcelona

Redesigning the Mar Bella waterfront to resist storms and sea-level rise, restoring about 1.8 km of coast.

Build a Waste-Free World

Sorted recycling bins, Busan, South Korea
Photo: ProjectManhattan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

South Korea

South Korea Zero Waste Movement Network

Network of 180+ groups working with government and firms to cut food waste and expand composting, biogas, recycling.

The Rhône at Lyon, France
Photo: Benoît Prieur, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

France

PFAS-Free France

Coalition that helped pass a French law restricting PFAS 'forever chemicals' at source.

Payatas dumpsite, Quezon City, Philippines
Photo: Patrick Roque, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Philippines

Mother Earth Foundation

Runs community-led waste programmes keeping plastic and organic waste from landfill and sea, backing informal workers.

Project website

Fix Our Climate

Smallholder farmers, Kenya
Photo: McKay Savage, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Kenya

Pula

Embeds climate-risk insurance in farm programmes, paying farmers automatically after drought or flood.

Project website
Rooftop solar on homes in Mehsana, Gujarat, India
Photo: Nizil Shah, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

India

Mahila Housing Trust

Cools low-income homes with reflective roof coatings and offers parametric heat insurance to protect women's earnings.

Project website

Recent winners

YearWinnerEarthshotCountry
2025re.greenProtect and Restore NatureBrazil
2025City of BogotaClean Our AirColombia
2025The High Seas TreatyRevive Our OceansGlobal
2025Lagos Fashion WeekBuild a Waste-Free WorldNigeria
2025FriendshipFix Our ClimateBangladesh
2024Altyn Dala Conservation InitiativeProtect and Restore NatureKazakhstan
2024Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO)Clean Our AirGhana
2024High Ambition Coalition for Nature and PeopleRevive Our OceansGlobal

More from Prince William this year

How to follow and support

Nominations and partnerships run through the prize itself: earthshotprize.org

Albedo Weekly is an independent supporter publication. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to The Earthshot Prize, The Royal Foundation or the Prince of Wales. We use no logos, photographs or text from the prize; photographs are openly licensed and credited under each image; facts are summarised in our own words with the official site as source.