BRIEFLY ABOUT THE  Earthshot Prize

• The Earthshot Prize is awarded by the Royal Foundation  to five winners each year for their contributions to environmentalism, solutions to climate change and environment issues.
• It was first awarded in 2021 and is planned to run annually until 2030.
• Each winner receives a grant of £1 million to continue their environmental work.

The five categories were inspired by the  UN Sustainable Goals:

• the restoration and protection of nature,
• air cleanliness,
• ocean revival,
• waste-free living,
• climate action.

The Earthshot Prize was launched in 2020 by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and David Attenborough (English broadcaster, natural historian and author).

The winners are selected by the Earthshot Prize Council, which includes Prince William and Attenborough.

The Earthshot Prize Council comprises global ambassadors from a wide range of varying sectors dedicated towards positive action in the environmental space, and include thirteen members: Prince William, the Queen Rania of Jordan, Cate Blanchett, Christiana Figueres, Dani Alves, David Attenborough, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Indra Nooyi, Jack Ma, Naoko Yamazaki, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Shakira and Yao Ming.

To commemorate Earth Day  2021, the Council published an open letter in  The Times, urging the public and communities to help with accelerating the fight against climate change.

 In May 2021,  Luisa Neubauer and Ernest Gibson were announced as new members of the Council.

In September 2021,  Michael Bloomberg, was named as a global adviser to the winners of the prize.

In September 2021, it was announced that the Earthshot Prize Global Alliance—consisting of companies such as Arup, Bloomberg L.P., Deloitte, Herbert Smith Freehills, Hitachi, the INGKA Group, Microsoft, MultiChoice, Natura & Co, Safaricom, Salesforce, Unilever, Vodacom, and Walmart—will help «scale up» ideas submitted by the inaugural 15 finalists.

Nominations for the inaugural prize ceremony opened on 1 November 2020, with over 100 nominating partners eligible to submit.

 The location of the ceremony will alternate each year.

 The 2021 Earthshot Prize ceremony took place on 17 October 2021 .

15 finalists were announced on 17 September 2021, with the winners being announced on 17 October 2021.

In the 1990s, the country had the world’s highest global deforestation rates, and less than a quarter of its original forest cover remained, largely due to agricultural expansion and logging.

Since then, policies that encourage sustainable land use practices have proved to be successful in reversing the decline.

Today, Costa Rica is one of the only countries in the world to reverse its deforestation, stop biodiversity loss, and increase forest cover to over half its total territory, whilst increasing economic growth.

Showing the path to a regenerative and sustainable world, Costa Rica has doubled the size of their forests and simultaneously grown their economy. And the world is taking notice.

UNDP has supported Costa Rican environmental policy-making and program implementation since 1973, including technical advisory to the Ministry of Environment and Energy on institutional matters.

Initiatives, many of which have been financed by the Global Environment Facility, include Payments for Ecosystem Services, and also the creation, management, and financial sustainability of terrestrial and marine Protected Areas.

Additional initiatives include improving water resource management — as well as chemical and waste management, mainstreaming biodiversity into economic sectors, and addressing environmental impacts of agricultural commodities.

UNDP is actively supporting the government in implementing the National Decarbonisation Plan, and developing projects that help transition towards a green and blue inclusive economy.

(You can read more about Costa Rica and the Earthshot prize here.)

Sources: wikipedia, UN website

Author: Natalia Iskova, 23 OCt. 2021