The Earthshot Prize
The University of Leeds is an Official Nominator for the Earthshot Prize, a global environmental prize that aims to help scale solutions to repair our planet. We’re nominating solutions to win five £1 million grants.
About the Earthshot Prize
The Earthshot Prize was launched by Prince William in 2020 to support innovative solutions that address five ambitious environmental goals:
- Protect and Restore Nature
- Clean Our Air
- Revive Our Oceans
- Build a Waste-Free World
- Fix Our Climate
All of the Prize's Finalists gain international recognition, mentorship, and access to the Earthshot network of NGOs, businesses, governments, and funders. The five winners each receive a £1 million grant.
The solution being nominated should have demonstrated early signs of success and be ready to scale up and make a much greater impact. This could be technologies, or new processes, collaborations, policy approaches or community initiatives that have proven impact and vast potential. More about what the Prize looks for can be found in the 2023 Roadmap.
The nomination process:
- Submit solution: individuals and groups from the University of Leeds and beyond submit their solutions to the University of Leeds
- Review by the University of Leeds panel
- Formal nomination: the University of Leeds then officially nominate the selected few solutions to the Earthshot Prize Council. The Council will ask nominees to provide further information as part of its assessment process.
Our selected nominees for the 2026 prize
The initial nomination window has now closed. This year we had amazing climate-related solutions, technologies and projects from across the globe including the UK, Pakistan, USA, Chile and Egypt. After careful consideration by our panel of experts, the solutions that we are nominating for the Earthshot Prize 2026 are:
Nature’s Future – The Valdivian Coastal Blueprint
- Chile’s Valdivian Coastal Reserve is a 60,000-hectare model for next-generation conservation, blending science, Indigenous co-governance, and sustainable finance tools such as an endowment fund. It closes the funding and management gaps that hinder protected areas worldwide.
- The Reserve is directly influencing Chile’s new Biodiversity and Protected Areas Service (SBAP), demonstrating how durable, community-centred conservation can shape national policy and protect ecosystems at scale.
- Find out more about Nature’s Future here.
Tech Air Solutions – Improving Air Quality
- Tech Air Solutions’ AirSMART™ system combines real-time air quality monitoring with localised pollution reduction. Using micro-filtration, high-efficiency fans, and sensors that track pollutants like NO₂, SO₂ and PM2.5, it cleans the air in high-exposure places such as school gates, drive-thrus, and busy pedestrian areas. The technology delivers measurable air-quality improvements while helping organisations understand and reduce their environmental impact.
- Find out more about Tech Air Solutions here.
Moleaer – Unlocking Nanobubble Technology
- Moleaer restores lakes, reservoirs, and ponds by using oxygen nanobubbles that remain suspended in the water and deliver oxygen with exceptional efficiency. This boosts aerobic microbial activity, breaks down organic matter, suppresses algal blooms, and stops foul odours—all without chemicals or dredging. Their systems reverse the degradation cycle in impaired water bodies and help rebuild self-sustaining aquatic ecosystems.
- Find out more about Moleaer here.
For questions about the University of Leeds and the Earthshot Prize please contact the Priestley Centre team at [email protected]
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