Singapore will host the next awards ceremony for Prince William’s Earthshot Prize that aims to reward innovative efforts to combat climate change, a statement said Monday. A winner is selected in each of the prize’s five categories such as “Clean our Air” or “Revive our Oceans”. The winners are awarded £1 million ($1.2 million) each. “The Earthshot Prize is all about showing the world that solutions to some of the biggest environmental challenges we face are out there,” said William, who is heir to his father King Charles III.

The ceremony in Singapore will take place on November 7 and will feature performances by “word-renowned musicians and artists”, according to the statement. This year’s finalists will be revealed toward the end of this year, it added. Founded by the prince in 2020, the Earthshot Prize’s name was inspired US president John F. Kennedy’s “Moonshot” project in the 1960s to put a man on the moon. The inaugural awards ceremony took place in London in 2021.

Last year’s prize was awarded at a star-studded ceremony in Boston with television presenter David Attenborough and actress Cate Blanchett among the judges. Winners included a female-founded start-up providing cleaner-burning stoves to women in Kenya and a British company that crafts biodegradable packaging from seaweed.—AFP