A restorative ecosystem scheme in Costa Rica and a tool that creates fuel from waste have been named winners of Prince William's sustainable design competition and will each receive a medal designed by Christien Meindertsma.
Five winners from a 15-strong shortlist have received an Earthshot Prize for their solutions to the world's greatest environmental problems.
Launched in October 2020 by The Royal Foundation and Prince William, The Earthshot Prize is an annual awards programme that is "designed to incentivise change and help to repair our planet". It will run up until 2030.
Each winning project considers how our lives could be improved by 2030, in response to five categories. These are Protect and Restore Nature, Clean our Air, Revive our Oceans, Build a Waste-free World and Fix our Climate. The first five Earthshot Prize winners received medals designed by Meindertsma
Awards were given to governments, schemes, designers and cities. The first winners of the prize are the government of the Republic of Costa Rica, biotechnology company Takachar, coral farming business Coral Vita, the Italian city of Milan and an AEM Electrolyser company called Enapter.
The Republic of Costa Rica government won the Protect and Restore Nature category for its scheme that pays local citizens to restore natural ecosystems in urban areas.
The scheme builds on a similar programme between the Costa Rican Ministry for Environment and locals which protects forests and ecosystems in rural...