All set for historic Earthshot Week in Cape Town
30 October 2024
In a first for the African continent, Cape Town is set to host the prestigious Earthshot Week beginning Monday, 4 November, with the Prince of Wales set to attend The Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony on 6 November 2024.
Founded by Prince William in 2020, The Earthshot Prize has become a powerful global search engine for unearthing the world’s most innovative climate and environmental solutions. This is the first time The Earthshot Prize annual celebration will be held in South Africa, following events in London in 2021, Boston in 2022, and Singapore in 2023.
Earthshot Week will convene international and community leaders, entrepreneurs, environmental experts, young people, and current and previous Earthshot Finalists for a series of thought leadership events, networking and mentorship opportunities and high-level dialogues on critical solutions to repair and restore the planet.
Feature events include Earthshot+, a day of thought-provoking conversations on 5 November featuring The Earthshot Prize Finalists; and the Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony on 6 November.
‘Cape Town is all set for an historic first Earthshot Week on African soil, and we look forward to welcoming the Prince of Wales to Cape Town for this prestigious global prize-giving ceremony. Our city feels a great resonance with Earthshot’s objectives. Cape Town is making an SA-record R120bn infrastructure investment over ten years, with a full 40% of our project portfolio focusing on climate change interventions. This includes new sources of water supply, a major transition to green energy, cutting-edge wastewater treatment technology, and much more.
‘We are excited to join the insightful discussions taking place throughout the week on solutions to the major environmental issues of our time,’ said Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
The Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony is set to be an evening of extraordinary storytelling and star-studded performances. Hosted by Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award winner Billy Porter and award-winning television presenter Bonang Matheba, the Awards will feature some of the world’s biggest musicians, artists, athletes, and advocates.
The Green Carpet pre-show will be livestreamed on YouTube, and performances include Grammy nominated artist and producer Davido, award-winning, internationally renowned artist Diamond Platnumz, Tony Award nominee and Grammy Award Winner Lebo M, the Ndlovu Youth Choir, and international headlining DJ and producer Uncle Waffles.
Supermodel and television host Heidi Klum, actor and activist Nina Dobrev, multi-hyphenate artist and actor Tobe Nwigwe, and supermodel and beauty entrepreneur Winnie Harlow will join the broadcast to announce the five Prize Winners from each Earthshot category.
On the morning of Thursday, 7 November, 2024 Earthshot Prize nominee Green Riders will host South Africa’s first micro-mobility Ride4Change event to coincide with Earthshot Week. More than 600 Green Riders and partners will cycle from Langa through Athlone and ending at Bree Street at Cape Town’s CBD to promote safer, more inclusive infrastructure for non-motorised transport and micro-mobility users across South Africa.
On Thursday afternoon (7 November), The Earthshot Prize, the National Geographic Society and Brand SA will host 100 local schoolchildren at the Two Oceans Aquarium for an afternoon of interactive learning experiences and mentorship as part of The Earthshot Prize’s affiliate collaboration on the Slingshot Challenge.
To bring Earthshot Week to a close on Thursday evening (7 November), the Prize will hold a Closing Jol, bringing together valued partners, finalists, and supporters.
The 15 Earthshot Prize Finalists hail from six continents, including three African finalists representing Kenya and Ghana. The five winners will be awarded a £1 million (R23 800 000,00) prize each to scale their solutions, during the ceremony in Cape Town.
Nearly 400 nominees for this year’s Prize were Africa-based, highlighting the trailblazing creativity and innovation across the continent with the potential to inspire optimism and provide pathways to transformative change around the world. One of the Prize’s inspiring 2023 finalists was Cape Town’s ABALOBI, a non-profit partnership between fishers and scientists aimed at protecting small-scale fishing communities while arming their customers with better information about the origin of their seafood.
The Prize’s first three cohorts of 45 Finalists from Earthshot editions 2021 – 2023 have already driven incredible impact to repair and regenerate the planet with more than 1,5 million people benefiting directly from their solutions. Over 7 000 hectares of land and almost 2,1 million hectares of ocean have been protected or restored, while over 35 000 tonnes of CO2 emissions have been reduced, avoided or sequestered. In addition to the £15 million of prize money awarded, a further £75 million of direct and indirect funding has been catalysed through The Earthshot Prize network. The Prize’s 2023 Finalists are well on their way to creating a similar impact.
For more information about The Earthshot Prize, visit: www.earthshotprize.org
For information about media credentials or logistics, please contact earthshotmedia@totalexposure.co.za.
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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
