The Earthshot Prize has announced its 15 finalists for 2026, highlighting environmental solutions from across the world as the global awards programme enters its sixth year.
Founded by Prince William in 2020, the prize recognises initiatives working to address some of the planet’s most pressing environmental challenges. Five winners will each receive £1 million to scale their work at an awards ceremony in Mumbai, India, on 17th November.
This year’s finalists include Argentina’s Satellites on Fire, an artificial intelligence-powered platform that detects and tracks wildfires across 21 countries; Mahindra Last Mile Mobility, an Indian manufacturer that has become a major seller of electric three-wheelers; and Yellowstone to Yukon, a conservation initiative reconnecting wildlife habitats across Canada and the United States.
Other finalists include the Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA), which brings cargo owners together to support zero-emission shipping, and Danish renewable energy company Ørsted, which is working to expand offshore wind and other clean energy projects.
The finalists are competing across five categories: Revive our Oceans, Fix our Climate, Build a Waste-free World, Protect and Restore Nature, and Clean our Air.
For the first time, the selection process has incorporated research into ‘positive tipping points’ – moments when beneficial environmental change becomes self-reinforcing and begins to spread with less external support. The framework was developed with the University of Exeter, drawing on research by Professor Tim Lenton.
The finalists were selected from almost 7,000 nominations spanning 169 countries, with input from more than 150 experts and a global network of nominators.
Prince William said: ‘Every year, our Finalists give me renewed optimism. They show us that, even as the environmental challenges remain urgent, extraordinary people around the world are already proving that progress is possible. Seeing solutions work gives us all confidence to act. When they succeed, they inspire others and accelerate change. I’m proud to welcome these 15 Finalists to the Earthshot Prize community and look forward to celebrating their stories in Mumbai this November.’
The 2026 cohort will join a community of 75 previous finalists. The Earthshot Prize says their work has collectively helped avoid or capture more than 18 million tonnes of CO₂e and protect or restore millions of hectares of land and ocean.
The five winners will be announced at the Mumbai ceremony on November 17, hosted by Indian filmmaker and broadcaster Karan Johar.
The Earthshot Prize 2026 Finalists are:
1: Protect and Restore Nature Finalists
• Yellowstone to Yukon – leading one of the largest conservation collaborations in history, reconnecting a vast mountain landscape across Canada and the US so wildlife can once again move freely as it did for millennia.
• Indigenous Desert Alliance – supporting desert mob – Indigenous communities and families with deep cultural ties to Australia’s Desert Country – and 70 Indigenous ranger teams to manage the largest indigenous led conservation corridor in the world.
• Bhutan – the Himalayan kingdom demonstrating how a small nation’s forests can safeguard water security across an entire region, embedding environmental protection into its constitution, public policy and national identity.
2: Fix our Climate
• Mahila Housing Trust – the Indian grassroots organisation driving a women-led heat resilience model, introducing affordable heat-reflecting roofs, community-led Heat Action Plans, and climate risk insurance for women on low-incomes.
• Pula – combining insurance and technology to help governments and agricultural partners protect smallholder farmers from the financial shock of droughts, floods and other climate events.
• Ørsted – the Danish renewable energy company behind some of the world’s largest offshore wind projects, working to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels by scaling clean energy globally.
3: Build a Waste-Free World
• PFAS-Free France – the policy and civil-society campaign that helped secure – and is now working to implement – France’s 2025 law to phase out uses of PFAS “forever chemicals” in everyday products.
• Korea Zero Waste Movement Network – the movement that helped turn South Korea’s growing food waste crisis into a national system that keeps most food waste out of landfill sites.
• Mother Earth Foundation – pioneering community-run Zero Waste Solutions, helping Philippine cities and island communities prevent plastic and organic waste from reaching landfills, waterways and the ocean. Chairman and Co-Founder Sonia Mendoza, is available for interviews.
4: Revive our Oceans
• ZEMBA – the Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance – solving one of the biggest problems in global decarbonisation, bringing global cargo owners together to make binding commitments to zero-emission shipping.
• Niue Ocean Wide Trust – protecting globally crucial ocean territory through developing Ocean Conservation Commitments (OCCs) – long-term Indigenous-led financing models to address ocean and climate funding challenges.
• The city of Barcelona – turning one of Europe’s most intensively used urban coastlines into a global blueprint for climate adaptation, including coastal resilience, nature-based solutions, public space and water management.
5: Clean our Air
• AirQo – the project closing Africa’s air quality data gap with low-cost monitors, open data platforms and artificial intelligence designed to track pollution levels across African cities.
• Satellites on Fire – an Argentinian AI-powered wildfire detection and alert platform, spotting and tracking wildfires across 21 countries – and faster than NASA.
• Mahindra Last Mile Mobility – one of India’s biggest three-wheeler manufacturers which has transformed its supply chain, and now sells more electric three-wheelers than anyone else in the country.
Prince William photo: Hannah Pye