Annual Review 2023
The Earthshot Prize
Supporting and scaling innovations with the potential to repair our planet.
Summary
The Earthshot Prize is designed to find and grow the solutions that will repair our planet this decade.
We’re proud to be at the heart of the movement it’s started – supporting the Prize in identifying solutions to the planet’s most pressing problems, bringing businesses and innovators together at the first Finalist Forum and supporting winners and finalists to scale their ideas.
On July 20, 1969, the first lunar landing changed the future. Half a century later, the concept of the ‘moonshot’ as an era-defining challenge lives on. This time, the shot we’re taking is closer to home.
In 2021, Earthshot Prize founder and president Prince William, backed by a council of influential environmental champions including Sir David Attenborough, launched the most prestigious global environment prize in history.
“The business community has a vital role to play in the race to net zero, putting our collective scale behind solutions to the world’s biggest environmental challenges. The Earthshot Prize finalists put forward incredibly innovative ideas and, each year, we look forward to working with them to accelerate the difference they can make.”
Richard Houston
CEO of Deloitte UK and Deloitte North and South Europe (NSE)
Uniting for the Earth
The Prize is based around five goals, or “Earthshots” – to protect and restore nature, clean our air, revive our oceans, build a waste-free world and fix our climate. Every year until 2030, The Earthshot Prize Council will be awarding five winners, one in each category.
Each year, a diverse group of nominators from over 50 countries put forward trailblazing innovators and, as the Prize’s implementation partner, we’re proud to support the immense challenge of selecting game-changing solutions.
Since 2021, Deloitte experts from our Sustainability & Climate practice have supported The Earthshot Prize Council by screening nominations as part of an independent assessment, looking for outstanding solutions that excel in the rigorous screening process and have the potential to positively impact both communities and the natural world.
Scaling solutions for global impact
As a member of the Earthshot Prize Global Alliance – a community of businesses that support the winners and finalists – our people are making a significant impact in helping to scale solutions that benefit society.
“Our WorldClimate team facilitate connections, coordinating mentorship and the delivery of pro bono support for finalists and winners around the world, bringing Deloitte expertise to help develop and scale their ideas so they can have a real impact on the Earthshot themes," says Smruti Naik-Jones, chief sustainability officer of Deloitte in UK & NSE
In January 2023, we hosted the first Finalist Forum, welcoming all 15 Earthshot Prize finalists and representatives of the Global Alliance at our Deloitte campus in London. The event, which included a strategy workshop and networking opportunities, helped them make vital connections to support their solutions.
Deloitte teams around the world have worked with 11 winners and finalists to date. Here are just some of their stories.
Coral Vita – 2021 winner
The coral innovators, based at the Bahamas, built the world’s first land-based commercial coral farm to accelerate reef restoration. Read how our people have helped the impact-led start-up develop a game-changing solution.
SOLshare – 2021 finalist
By powering electric rickshaws with solar energy, SOLshare is reducing emissions and boosting incomes in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Here’s how our Deloitte UK teams supported its growth and the development of a more sustainable transport system.
Sanergy – 2021 finalist
A social enterprise in Nairobi, Kenya, Sanergy provides an innovative and sustainable end-to-end sanitation solution to improve public health and boost circularity. Read how our people in our UK and Kenya firms have worked together to help Sanergy increase its impact.
“For the third year running, we’ve been able to bring the full breadth of our expertise, from people who focus on oceans to those specialising in climate technology. The solutions we see are extraordinarily diverse, but they all have something in common – the potential to drive radical global change.”
Katherine Lampen
Deloitte’s UK Lead Partner for The Earthshot Prize
Notpla
2022 winner Based in East London, Notpla is on a mission to replace plastic packaging with sustainable solutions, created from seaweed and plants, that disappear naturally. “Global awareness of the plastic problem has reached a record high and consumer businesses, from fashion to food, are searching for a true sustainable alternative," says Emily Cromwell, Deloitte climate change and sustainability lead for the consumer industry in the UK, and Notpla’s mentor. "Notpla has a real opportunity to change the packaging game for good. I want to support co-founders Pierre Paslier and Rodrigo García Gonzalez, and their team, so they can make change happen.”
Low Carbon Materials (LCM)
2022 finalist Concrete generates eight per cent of the world's carbon emissions, but UK-based LCM has created a sustainable alternative that could change construction forever. “Concrete is affordable, durable and easy to produce – and as urbanisation, infrastructure investment and economic development continues around the world, we urgently need alternatives to help decarbonise the built environment," adds David Tansley, Deloitte NSE board member, leader of infrastructure and transport regional growth in the UK, and LCM’s mentor. "Co-founder Natasha Boulding and her inspiring team of scientists bring not only great innovation in material technology, but a fresh and diverse perspective to the construction sector - and as their mentor, I want to help LCM get into the conversations that will help them demonstrate the application of their technology at scale.”
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Talal Hasan, Founder of 2022 Earthshot Prize winner 44.01, meeting members of the Earthshot Prize Global Alliance at the Finalist Forum. Photo Credit: The Earthshot Prize
Larissa Hale, Director of 2022 Earthshot Prize winner Queensland Indigenous Women Ranger Network, and Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Eartshot Prize Council Member at the Finalist Forum. Photo Credit: The Earthshot Prize
Pierre Paslier and Rodrigo García Gonzalez, Co-Founders of 2022 Earthshot Prize winner Notpla, meeting members of the Earthshot Prize Global Alliance at the Finalist Forum. Photo Credit: The Earthshot Prize
Charlot Magayi, Founder of 2022 Earthshot Prize winner Mukuru Clean Stoves during a strategic one-to-one networking session at the Finalist Forum. Photo Credit: The Earthshot Prize
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We sat down with Hannah Jones, CEO of The Earthshot Prize, to discuss how urgency and optimism can drive climate action.
Business can play an important role in bringing ideas to life – and in making them lifechanging. We asked Rodrigo García Gonzalez, co-founder and co-CEO of Earthshot Prize winner Notpla, what it takes to turn an idea into a success.
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