On November 5, Prince William brought his Earthshot Prize crowns to Boston to celebrate the winners of the 2025 prize. He put on a magnificent opening ceremony at Rio de Janeiro’s Museum of Tomorrow. The competition featured exciting, groundbreaking solutions to pressing environmental problems. Most importantly, the movement birthed a critical political constituency that has continued to make the case for a sustainable planet.
The ceremony featured a poignant moment when Prince William shared the stage with four young advocates: Hevellin dos Santos, 15, Julia Ferreira, 15, Miguel dos Santos, 12, and Vicente Fontoura, 14. While all of them looked forward to a brighter future, all three stressed the need for young people to be active in environmental advocacy.
“The choices we make during this decade will define us,” – Prince William
During his speech, Prince William stressed that these decisions will have the biggest effect on children and youth, who will inherit this world. He stated, “They are the ones who will inherit the planet we are fighting to protect. They are the ones who will continue to drive our momentum forwards. So tonight, it only seems fitting that we should hear about their vision.”
The ceremony drew a star-studded crowd, including performances from Kylie Minogue, Shawn Mendes, Seu Jorge, and Gilberto Gil, who duetted with Anitta. There were an estimated 34 million viewers in Brazil and the UK who watched as Rio welcomed the world to see all the fabulous environmental innovation.
The winners were:
- Protect and Restore Nature: re.green, Brazil
- Clean Our Air: The city of Bogotá, Colombia
- Revive Our Oceans: The High Seas Treaty (Global)
- Build a Waste-Free World: Lagos Fashion Week, Nigeria
- Fix Our Climate: Friendship, Bangladesh
Prince William emphasized the significance of hosting the Earthshot Prize in Brazil, remarking, “By hosting the prize in Brazil, we’re shining a light on the solutions emerging from this part of the world and drawing global attention to the urgency and opportunity of climate action.” It was a combination of many logistical merits, but he mentioned Brazil’s dynamic energy, beautiful scenery, and culture as an important backdrop for the celebration of environmental innovation.
“When I founded The Earthshot Prize in 2020, we had a ten-year goal; to make this the decade in which we transformed our world for the better,” – Prince William
The 2025 Earthshot Prize ceremony showed us all the fantastic innovations that are helping make our planet more sustainable. It sparked a powerful call to action, a call for transformation. Prince William ended his address with a few friendly words in Portuguese: “Boa noite e bem-vindos! This underscores his deep conviction that all of us—governments, businesses, and citizens—need to come together to build a sustainable future.
