Overview

• Five category winners will each receive £1 million at the Nov. 5 ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, which Prince William will attend.
• This year’s finalists were selected through a global network and vetted by selection partners and an expert advisory panel spanning about 72 countries.
• Notable contenders include Matter’s washing‑machine microplastic filters, Form Energy’s iron‑air batteries, Barbados’s Bridgetown Initiative, Sydney’s upcycled Quay Quarter Tower and Lagos Fashion Week’s sustainability mandate.
• Organisers report that the previous 60 finalists collectively secured hundreds of millions in investment, protected or restored over one million square kilometres of ecosystems, diverted more than 250,000 tonnes of waste and reduced or avoided around 4.8 million tonnes of CO₂.
• The 2025 event marks the midpoint of the ten‑year Earthshot effort toward 2030, with William emphasizing a message of “urgent optimism.”