SINGAPORE – Oscar winner Cate Blanchett and actresses Lana Condor, Nomzamo Mbatha and Hannah Waddingham are among celebrities coming to Singapore for the award ceremony of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize on Nov 7. American band OneRepublic and British indie-pop band Bastille are the headline performers.
The Earthshot Prize was established in 2020. At the ceremony, which is being held here for the first time, five winners will receive a total of £1 million (S$1.66 million) to scale up their environmental solutions and speed up their impact on communities and the planet.
The winners will be announced by Blanchett, who is also an Earthshot Prize council member; Condor, a breakout star in the popular romantic comedy To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before; Australian wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin; and South African actress and humanitarian Mbatha.
Prince William, who will be in Singapore for a four-day trip, will deliver remarks to celebrate the work of this year’s Earthshot Prize finalists.
Emmy winner Waddingham, a star in the acclaimed comedy series Ted Lasso, will be hosting the ceremony, which will be broadcast in Singapore on Channel 5, mewatch and the Mediacorp Entertainment YouTube channel.
It will also be broadcast on BBC in Britain and PBS in the United States, as well as on Earthshot Prize’s YouTube channel.
Earthshot Prize has announced 15 finalists, whose work spans a number of environmental causes, from a scheme to plant, grow and digitally track trees in Liberia to proposals for a less carbon-intensive method to treat industrial wastewater.
Of the 15 finalists, one is from South-east Asia. Coastal 500 is a global network of mayors and government leaders from developing countries, such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Palau, looking to restore ocean habitats and advocate for coastal protection internationally.
All finalists will receive mentorship, resources and technical support from a year-long The Earthshot Prize Fellowship Programme, aimed at accelerating the growth of their solutions.
The finalists will receive access to the prize’s network of influential businesses, investors and climate experts, as well as the Earthshot Prize’s partners, which include some of the world’s largest businesses, donors, investors and environmental organisations committed to climate action.
Also performing at the ceremony is Singaporean choral society, Voices of Singapore.
In the inaugural Earthshot Prize ceremony held in London, British band Coldplay, known for its sustainability efforts, staged a performance powered by 60 people pedalling stationary bicycles.
The award ceremony in Singapore will be accompanied by a series of events as part of Earthshot Week, supported by the Earthshot Prize’s strategic partners Temasek Trust, Temasek, GenZero and Conservation International, said the organisers.
“The week will see global leaders, businesses, investors and the public convene in Singapore to explore meaningful opportunities... to repair the planet,” the organisers added.
While Prince William – the elder son of King Charles III and heir to the British throne – is in Singapore, he will attend the United for Wildlife Global Summit, which was launched in 2014 to tackle the illegal wildlife trade.
