The Prince of Wales Visits Singapore to Name the Winners of His Earthshot Prize
William is in Singapore to announce the winners of his Earthshot Prize, an awards ceremony honoring inventors and entrepreneurs with ideas that combat global warming by mitigating its effects. Established three years ago to foster technological breakthroughs that protect and restore the environment, its purpose has since become more ambitious with each passing year. Singapore was chosen as host due to its reputation as a “hub for innovation” across Southeast Asia; additionally William will attend United for Wildlife summit featuring representatives of law enforcement agencies, conservation groups and corporations working against illegal wildlife trade worth an estimated $20 billion each year.
The event will also commemorate Singapore’s development as an internationally acclaimed garden city with high quality of life and rapid economic development, through talks, workshops and tours conducted by winners and finalists to share their insights and share experiences.
At this year’s prize event in Asia, there will also be an exhibition focused on its theme; winners and finalists of the award will join local businesses and community partners for workshops to scale their solutions further. It marks the inaugural run for this prize in this region.
Last year’s event took place in Boston and will conclude with the award ceremony on November 7. Five winners will each receive 1 million pounds to help implement their innovative projects – these include Accion Andina working to protect rainforest in South America; GRST building safer lithium-ion batteries to power electric cars; and WildAid tightening marine enforcement to stop illegal fishing and support ocean conservation – three winners representing six continents out of over 1,300 nominees were chosen from.
As part of his visit, Prince Andrew will meet with business leaders, scientists and other luminaries from Singapore and elsewhere. During the prince’s stay he will also try his luck at dragon boating – an increasingly popular sport both within Singapore and worldwide – before meeting up with Singaporeans to assess how they are helping protect and restore our environment. In addition, he will attend United for Wildlife global summit featuring representatives from law enforcement agencies, conservation groups and corporations working collaboratively against illegal wildlife trade.
Afterwards, Prince Charles will stop by the 40m high Rain Vortex waterfall, the world’s largest indoor waterfall, which will be lit green to commemorate his visit. After unveiling an inaugural tree planted in his honor he will attend an awards ceremony which honors works written in any of Singapore’s four official languages: Chinese, English, Malay or Tamil with up to $10,000 cash prizes awarded as prizes for winners.