Earthshot Prize: First ever winners announced

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived at the event in an electric car wearing clothes they'd worn to previous events.

The winners of the first ever Earthshot Prizes were announced in a ceremony in London on Sunday night.

Five winners were allocated £1 million each for their initiatives to help the environment.

The awards were created by the Duke of Cambridge, who wanted to promote and reward people coming up with ways to solve the climate crisis.

Prince William was joined at the ceremony by his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, as well as presenter and environmentalist David Attenborough, actress Emma Watson, footballer Mo Salah and YouTuber KSI.

On Sunday night, the Duke of Cambridge tweeted a message to the young people watching the award show, saying: "For too long, we haven't done enough to protect the planet for your future. But Earthshot is for you.

"In the next ten years we are going to act. We are going to find the solutions to repair our planet."

What is the Earthshot Prize?

Prince William first announced the Earthshot Prize in December 2019.

He introduced it as a way to celebrate and invest in the work of those trying to solve different environmental challenges.

It is an annual prize that will be awarded every year until 2030, with this year being the first ever ceremony.

Each year there will be winners in five categories:

• Protect and restore nature

• Clean our air

• Revive our oceans

• Build a waste-free world

• Fix our climate

Winners will be awarded £1 million each to invest in their ideas.

Actor David Oyelowo announced the winners of the 'Clean Our Air' prize as social initiative Takachar via video link.

Who won the first five prizes?

Here are the winners of the first ever Earthshot Prizes!

1. Protect and Restore Nature

This was won by The Republic of Costa Rica. The country, which had lost a lot of their trees through deforestation, but have now doubled the size of their forests. Its programme pays the people of Costa Rica to look after their environment through planting trees and restoring ecosystems.

2. Clean our Air

Social enterprise Takachar, run by Vidyut Mohan, won the prize for their machine that converts farm waste into useful fuels and fertiliser that can be reused or sold by farmers in India. This means that farmers do not need to burn the waste which causes lots of pollution.

3. Revive our Oceans

Two best friends in the Bahamas, Sam Teicher and Gator Halpern, have developed a way to quickly restore the world's coral reefs which have been damaged by pollution. They have made special tanks that can grow coral 50 times faster than it would ordinarily grow in nature.

4. Build a Waste-Free World

The City of Milan in Italy have won the prize for collecting unused food in the city and giving it out for free to those in need.

5. Fix our Climate

Green technology group Enapter have developed an environmentally friendly way to create hydrogen by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen is a clean fuel, but it is often created by burning fossil fuels.

The winners were chosen from 750 nominees.

Singer Ed Sheeran's performance was powered by 60 cyclists on bikes!

Who was there?

The Duke and Duchess arrived at the ceremony by electric car, and were joined by other celebrities on the green carpet at Alexandra Palace.

Actress and women's rights campaigner Emma Watson attended in an outfit made from 10 second-hand dresses.

Emma, alongside the Duchess of Cambridge, actress Dame Emma Thompson and actor David Oyelowo announced the winners.

Footballers Mo Salah and Dani Alves also took part, with Mo helping deliver a key message of the ceremony and Dani as a prize judge.

YouTuber and rapper KSI, singers Ed Sheeran and Yemi Alade, and band Coldplay all performed at the ceremony, with the energy for their performances powered by 60 cyclists on bikes!

David Attenborough made a speech during the ceremony on solving the climate crisis, saying: "We don't have eternity. We need to do this now."