Prince William launches biggest environmental award ever with David Attenborough

'I feel right now it's my responsibility,' says Duke of Cambridge

(Earthshot)

The Duke of Cambridge has launched the biggest environmental prize in history with Sir David Attenborough.

The Earthshot Prize will see more than £50m awarded over the next decade to help applicants find solutions to the world’s more pressing environmental concerns by 2030.

Prince William is calling for “amazing people” to apply with “brilliant innovative projects”.

The prize money will be split between five winners each year up until 2030, with each of them receiving £1m.

Nominations open on 1 November, and an annual global awards ceremony will be held in a different city each year, the first of which will take place in London in autumn 2021.

The Earthshot Prize is centred around five “Earthshots”, which are goals for repairing the planet.

The five “Earthshots” are: Protect and restore nature, clean our air, revive our oceans, build a waste-free world, and fix our climate.

The prize was first announced in December 2019.

The scheme takes its name from the concept of moonshots, a term that has become shorthand for ambitious and ground-breaking goals ever since Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in 1969.

Speaking about the prize on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday, Sir David Attenborough explained that the need for action to repair the planet is more urgent now than ever before.

"Suddenly we actually see the writing is on the wall," he said.

"People can see it's happening and it is a matter of great urgency now. The disaster we are facing is on a scale that has not been seen since mankind existed."

Prince William added that he hopes the Earthshot Prize sees applicants from around the world.

“From communities, schools, right up to banks, governments, corporations - anyone and everyone is a part of this and anyone could find the solutions that we need,” he said.

"There's a lot of people wanting to do many good things in the environment and what they need is a bit of a catalyst, a bit of hope, a bit of positivity that we can actually fix what's being presented",

You can find out more about the Earthshot Prize here.