Cape Town, South Africa – In an evening that celebrated environmental innovation and resilience, Cape Town hosted the 2024 Earthshot Prize Awards, bringing global attention to Africa’s unique role in combating climate change. South African media icon Bonang “Queen B” Matheba, alongside actor and singer Billy Porter, led the ceremony, joined by international stars including Heidi Klum, Winnie Harlow, Nina Dobrev, and Tobe Nwigwe. These celebrities announced winners across five categories, each recognising a transformative environmental solution.
A Vision for a Sustainable Africa and Beyond
Africa contributes the least to global carbon emissions, yet feels the effects of climate change more acutely than any other region. Despite these challenges, Africa is rich in innovative solutions; however, a shortage of investment and opportunities has often restricted their growth. The Earthshot Prize organization, working with partners over the past three years, has created a platform designed to support African innovators and storytellers. To date, over 500 nominations have been received from 38 African countries, with more than 750 nominees whose work positively impacts the continent. If scaled, these solutions have the power to create transformative environmental and human impact across Africa and around the globe.
The prize’s mission is clear: to empower Africa’s fast-growing youth population—the world’s largest and youngest—to shape the planet’s future. By providing accelerators, tools, education, funding, and global support, the Earthshot Prize organization aims to unlock African creativity and scale solutions that will repair the planet.
2024 Earthshot Prize Winners: Local Solutions, Global Impact
In line with Earthshot’s mission, this year’s winners span five distinct categories: Protect and Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build a Waste-free World, and Fix Our Climate.
- Protect and Restore Nature: Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative
This Kazakh project has made significant strides in saving the critically endangered Saiga antelope, showcasing a conservation model that could be adopted globally. - Clean Our Air: Green Africa Youth Organization
Based in Ghana, this organization is changing the environmental landscape by promoting waste cleanup and building circular waste management infrastructure, directly improving community health across Africa. - Revive Our Oceans: High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People
Comprising 119 countries, this alliance is dedicated to protecting 30% of the world’s land and oceans by 2030, underscoring global commitments to biodiversity and marine conservation. - Build a Waste-free World: Keep IT Cool
A Kenyan company using solar-powered refrigeration to cut down on harvest waste, Keep IT Cool empowers farmers to reduce losses and embrace sustainable food preservation. - Fix Our Climate: Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems
An American company, Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems, addresses industrial emissions by converting excess heat from steel and cement production into electricity, reducing waste and energy consumption.
A Global Call to Invest in Africa’s Future
This year, with Earthshot Week spotlighting Africa, the organization has called on the global community to rally behind African solutions. By directing investment toward proven and scalable innovations, the world can support Africa’s youth in shaping a sustainable future. As Deputy Minister Mondli Gungubele noted in his remarks, “By Africa, for Africa, to the world”—a sentiment echoed throughout the event.
Prince William’s vision for the Earthshot Prize is to create a platform that not only celebrates these solutions but drives investment and support to bring them to scale. Africa’s innovators are already creating impactful solutions; with increased support, their potential to effect positive change worldwide is boundless. This year’s Earthshot Prize in Cape Town underscores that commitment, highlighting Africa as both a leader and a key stakeholder in the global push toward sustainability.
