New details of Prince William’s sixth annual Earthshot Prize Awards that are taking place later this year in Mumbai in India have been released as the 15 finalists are announced
Prince William has enlisted a Bollywood legend to host his Earthshot Prize in India with the finalists of the award also being revealed.
Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar will present the glittering awards ceremony in Mumbai, which will be the sixth annual edition of prize of the 10-year project and is dedicated to solving our planet’s greatest environmental challenges.
He was revealed as the host of the ceremony on November 17, in a social media clip showing him and Prince William having a tea with the Houses of Parliament in the background, saying those in the city of Mumbai “can’t wait” to welcome the prince.
In it William talks about the hottest summer on record in the UK, noting there had been three or four months without “any proper rain”. He tells the 2026 Earthshot Prize host: “Our farmers are struggling, our water supplies are under stress. I think it’s making it more in people’s minds that water is a precious resource.”
It came as the 15 finalists vying for one of five £1million prizes to scale up their ideas to help save the planet were announced in London by Earthshot Prize CEO Jason Knauf.
They were selected from 7,000 entries across 169 countries. Among the finalists is Satellites on Fire – an AI-powered wildfire detection and alert platform set up in Argentina by 22-year-old Franco Rodriguez Viau and rolled out across Latin America.
The prince said about the youngsters behind Satellites on Fire: “These guys are absolutely brilliant. Genius young guys who set up the organisation to use satellites to be able to predict and warn early communities that might face wildfires. I think when they were 16 they saw major forest fires and wildfires in their communities.
“If you look back even 20, 30 years ago certain parts of the world had the odd wildfire happening, they were sort of fairly common. Now you’re getting wildfires in parts of the world which should not really be having wildfires.”
Another finalist is Mahindra Last Mile Mobility, which is transforming India’s tuk-tuks into electric vehicles. The Yellowstone to Yukon project is also a finalist due to its work in trying to connect a vast mountain landscape across the US and Canada so wildlife can move freely.
Danish renewable energy company Orsted is also recognised for its work on some of the world ’s largest offshore wind projects.
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 winners will be announced at the Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony in November. It is understood that the Princess of Wales could join her husband William on the trip to India. She last attended the Earthshot Prize Awards in Boston in 2022. Other editions of the awards have been held in London, Singapore and Rio.
The announcement of the Earthshot finalist comes just days after the Prince of Wales made an urgent plea for action against climate change to be sped up as “we no longer have time for inch-by-inch improvements”.
He said a summer of “devastating” wildfires across Britain served as a “powerful reminder of the risks associated with a warming climate”.
And while William called the summer conditions “alarming”, he said he believes that “urgent optimism” could craft a way forward for humanity.
Speaking today as the finalists were announced, former IKEA chief executive chair of the Earthshot Prize Jesper Brodin said: “We at the prize believe we find ourselves in what is the most important decade in the history of humankind. Nature loss and climate change is no longer a distant threat, but upon us.”
He also said AI represents a “huge opportunity” and the Earthshot Prize team should take on the role of educating finalists in how to “do more and better” with AI. But he also issued a note of caution: “We all need to support the development of guardrails, human-led and set guardrails to make sure that we avoid the dangers and the damage that AI can do.”
Earthshot Prize finalists in full:
Protect and Restore Nature finalists – Yellowstone to Yukon, Indigenous Desert Alliance, Bhutan.
Fix our Climate – Mahila Housing Trust, Pula, Orsted.
Build a Waste-Free World – PFAS-Free France, South Korea Waste Movement Network, Mother Earth Foundation.
Revive Our Oceans – ZEMBA, Nine Ocean Wide Trust, the city of Barcelona.
Clean Our Air – AirQo, Satellites on Fore, Mahindra Last Mile Mobility.
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