Prince William participated this Wednesday in the fourth edition of the Earthshot Prize Awards, an environmental prize founded by the heir to the throne himself. In front of around 2,000 people, the five winners of this prestigious prize came to collect their trophy, which comes with a financial reward of one million pounds sterling. For this edition, Prince William had put away his elegant tuxedo, preferring to wear an oversized jacket with blue chinos and white sneakers to respect the instruction to wear sustainable and second-hand clothing.
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The 4th edition of the Earthshot Prize Awards in South Africa
In 2020, Prince William of the United Kingdom announced the launch of an ambitious environmental prize imagined with Sir David Attenborough. From 2021, the first prizes were distributed in London, the following year in New York and then last year in Singapore. During each edition, five winners win a prize in one of the five categories. Each prize comes with financial support of one million pounds sterling (approximately 1.2 million euros). The last prizes will be awarded during the 2030 edition.
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This Wednesday, November 6, 2024, it was in Cape Town, South Africa, that the Prince of Wales, 42, went to attend the 4th edition of his prize. During the three previous editions, the event had taken on a glamorous turn, comparable to the biggest award ceremonies. Prince William wore a tuxedo each time, arriving on the arm of his wife in 2021 and 2022 and actress Cate Blanchett in 2023. This year, Prince William had put away his tuxedo. He wore simple dark blue chinos purchased from a second-hand shop in London, a vintage oversized checked jacket and a blue shirt without a tie. He also wore white sneakers from the 100% eco-responsible brand Purified Shoes.
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Prince William puts away his tuxedo for this edition in Cape Town
This year's clothing guideline was to wear sustainable or second-hand clothing. The dress code did not preclude finding evening wear that met these criteria. This was the case of the famous Australian animal specialist Robert Irwin in a tuxedo and the South African actress Nomzamo Mbatha in an evening dress. Robert Irwin and Nomzamo Mbatha, both Earthshot Prize ambassadors, accompanied Prince William to the ceremony.
Read also: Prince William and Cate Blanchett on the green carpet at the Earthshot Prize Awards in Singapore
Models Heidi Klum and Winnie Harlow, actress Nina Dobrev and artist Tobe Nwigwe were assigned to present the trophies to the five winners, while actor Billy Porter and presenter Bonang Matheba were responsible for presenting the live show. on television and on the internet. More than 2,500 innovative projects applied for this edition. A list of 15 finalists (three per category) had been known for a few weeks and all that remained was to know the names of the five winners. The Nature Protection and Restoration Prize was awarded to the Altyn Dala initiative which saved the critically endangered saiga antelope from extinction in Kazakhstan.
The air pollution prize was awarded to the Green Africa Youth organization, which builds recycling infrastructure in Africa and sets up systems to change behavior within communities and introduce them to the circular economy and anti-waste. The prize for saving the oceans goes to the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People (HAC). This alliance between 119 member states of a United Nations commission has the ambitious project of completely depolluting at least 30% of all oceans by 2030. The prize for a world without waste goes to the Kenyan company Keep IT Cool , which uses solar energy to operate the refrigeration systems used by farmers. Finally, the American company Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems won the climate improvement prize. The company has developed a system for converting excess heat obtained during the manufacture of cement into electricity.
Nicolas Fontaine
Editor-in-chief
Nicolas Fontaine has been a designer-editor and author for numerous Belgian and French brands and media. A specialist in royal family news, Nicolas founded the site Histoires royales of which he is the editor-in-chief. [email protected]
