Nominations for the world's first "Earthshot Prize" -- a save-the-planet initiative by Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge -- will begin in November and culminate in an awards ceremony in London next fall.
Prince William on Thursday formally launched the Earthshot Prize, which will award a total of £50 million ($64.54 million) to winners from 2021 and 2030. Five prizes, each worth £1 million ($1.3 million), will be awarded each year for the next 10 years.
One winner per category will be chosen every year. Winners can use their prize money to "support environmental and conservation projects that are agreed with the winners." In total, all the winners will provide at least 50 solutions to the world's greatest environmental problems by 2030.
The Earthshot Prize is focused on saving the environment. Its organizers describe the new initiative as "the most prestigious global environment prize in history."
The prize will identify "evidence-based solutions to the biggest environmental problems the planet faces." It will focus on attaining five "Earthshots" or goals: protect and restore nature; fix our climate; clean our air; revive our oceans and build a waste-free world.
Earthshots' simple but ambitious goals for our planet, if achieved by 2030, will improve our lives for generations to come, according to the organizers.
Those eligible for the award include "scientists, activists, economists, community projects, leaders, governments, banks, businesses, cities, and countries." More than 100 "nominating partners" from around the world will nominate the candidates.
"Time is of the essence, which is why we believe that this very ambitious global prize is the only way forward," said Prince William.
He noted the Earth is at a tipping point "and we face a stark choice: either we continue as we are and irreparably damage our planet, or we remember our unique power as human beings and our continual ability to lead, innovate and problem-solve. People can achieve great things."
The heir apparent to the British throne said the next 10 years "present us with one of our greatest tests -- a decade of action to repair the Earth."
The organizers said the Earthshot Prize is much more than awarding achievement. It will launch a decade of action and bring together in the environmental world the funders, businesses, and individuals needed to attain the prize's goals. The Earthshot Prize also seeks to inspire people all over the world to work together to repair our Earth.
The prizes will be awarded by Prince William and an Earthshot Prize Council, with experts assisting the judges. The prize draws support from an alliance of organizations, among which are the WWF, Greenpeace, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, the Jack Ma Foundation, and the Aga Khan Development Network.
Organizers said the prize's name was inspired by the late President John F. Kennedy's Moonshot, which united millions of people around the goal of landing a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s.
