Prince William Earthshot environmental award winners announced

(CNN) – The inaugural winners of the Earthshot Award from the Prince william They include the country of Costa Rica, an Indian organization that creates fuel from agricultural waste, and a coral farming group in the Bahamas.

The award, a Nobel-like prize founded by the Duke of Cambridge and renowned British naturalist David Attenborough, aims to inspire innovative solutions to the most pressing environmental challenges facing the planet today.

Each of the five winners take home £ 1 million, the equivalent of more than US $ 1.3 million, and the promise of “technical and professional support” to expand their innovations.

Costa Rica won for its plan to pay local citizens to protect and restore rainforests and local ecosystems, a system that the award committee credits with reversing decades of deforestation.

The innovation from the Indian organization Takachar was a technology that sticks to tractors and reduces smoke emissions by up to 98% while turning waste into new products.

Coral Vita in the Bahamas won for its method of accelerating coral regrowth by first growing it on land and then replanting it on depleted underwater reefs.

The entire city of Milan was recognized for the “Food Hubs” approach to reducing food waste and distributing food to those in need that would otherwise be wasted by restaurants and supermarkets.

And a Thai, German and Italian group won for their AEM Electrolyser, a technology that converts renewable electricity into emission-free hydrogen.

“The most momentous moment in the history of mankind”

The winners were announced Sunday at a glittering awards ceremony at London’s Alexandra Palace, in what Kensington Palace called “the most sustainable event of its kind.”

“We are alive at the most momentous moment in human history: the actions we choose or decide not to take in the next 10 years will determine the fate of the planet for the next thousand,” said William in a short film recorded on the London Eye for the award ceremony. “A decade does not seem long, but humanity has an outstanding record of being able to solve the unsolvable.”

William went on to say that “many of the answers are already available … but we need everyone, from all parts of society, to increase their ambition and come together to repair our planet.”

“The future is ours to determine. And if we propose it, nothing is impossible,” he added.

Heir to the British throne and a lifelong environmentalist, Prince Charles said he was “proud” of his son, in a statement from Kensington Palace.

“I am very proud of my son, William, for his growing commitment to the environment and the bold ambition of the Earthshot Prize. As a world, we must come together to inspire, reimagine and build the sustainable future we desperately need,” said Charles.

“Over the next decade, with future generations in mind, the Earthshot Prize and its inspiring nominees will help us find innovative solutions,” added the Prince of Wales. “Together, with all who join us, we have a real opportunity to offer a brighter future for humanity while restoring harmony between nature, people and the planet.”

Attenborough spoke at the ceremony about the importance of the award and his optimism in humanity’s ability to tackle the most pressing environmental problems of our time. He commended the 15 Earthshot finalists for giving the world hope.

“The natural world that we completely depend on is declining at a faster rate than at any time since the end of the dinosaurs. We know where this story is going and now we must write a different ending. This is what created The Earthshot Prize Tonight’s 15 Earthshot Award finalists create optimism by finding brilliant and innovative solutions to the world’s challenges, and give us hope, which they tell us is eternal. “

Earlier this week, Prince William criticized the multi-million dollar space race, arguing that the world’s greatest minds should be more focused on trying to repair the planet rather than traveling to space.

It wasn’t the only recent reprimand from royalty for inaction on the global climate crisis, as the monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, was heard on Thursday saying she finds it “very irritating when they speak, but they don’t” while the upcoming COP26 climate conference in Glasgow was being discussed.

CNN’s Lauren Said-Moorhouse contributed to this report.