Do you have a ready-made solution to an environmental issue? This could be your opportunity to gain £1m of funding towards turning it into a reality, courtesy of The Earthshot Prize.
Supported by The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and dubbed ‘the most prestigious global environmental prize in history’, The Earthshot Prize is centred around five ‘Earthshots’ – simple but ambitious, scientifically agreed goals for the planet. These are: Protect and restore nature; Clean our air; Revive our oceans; Build a waste-free world and Fix our climate.
Every year for the next ten years, each of the five Earthshots will award a project a £1m prize fund, making a total of £50m awarded to innovative and evidence-based solutions. The five annual winners of The Earthshot Prize will be those whose solutions make the most progress towards the five Earthshots. By the end of 2030, the project will have provided at least 50 solutions to the world’s greatest environmental problems.
One member of the judging panel who has already been announced is legendary naturalist Sir David Attenborough who launched the project alongside HRH The Duke of Cambridge.
As an Official Nominator, UEA is one of only seven UK universities, and just over 100 organisations worldwide, that have been selected for their profile and ability to identify impactful solutions across all sectors, from grassroots to businesses.
Locally, the project is being led by the new ClimateUEA initiative, which brings together experts within the university from natural sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities. These researchers have predicted that the 2020s will be a decade of profound change, with challenges requiring a new scale of response and innovation that transforms the way we interact with nature.
The Earthshot Prize is part of this response, and opens up an opportunity for the University to work with businesses, charities, community projects and NGOs to maximise impact and develop solutions to the climate and environmental crises.
All solutions should be scalable, evidence-based and have a clear proof of concept – more detail on what to include is available on UEA’s Earthshot Prize web form.
After the awards, each winner will receive a global platform and prestigious profile, with their stories being showcased over the next decade and the intention that their solutions will lead to mass adoption, replication and scaling. The £1m in prize money will support environmental and conservation projects that are agreed with the winners.
Prof Fiona Lettice, UEA’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation, said: “The ClimateUEA community is very excited to be invited to play a key role in the nominations process for this prestigious Earthshot Prize. We are encouraging climate change solutions from anywhere, whether local or further afield. Please send us your best ideas and let’s grab this opportunity for a chance to make a real difference to the future of our planet!”
Do you have a climate change solution to recommend to UEA? Complete the form on the Earthshot webpage by 23.59 GMT on Monday 4 January 2021. A cross-sector panel will meet to discuss and read through the submissions, decide which best meet the criteria and then formally submit the best to The Earthshot Prize judging panel.
For more information on UEA's role in The Earthshot Prize, visit the UEA website. For further questions on submissions, contact climate@uea.ac.uk.
