Earthshot Prize awards 2022: What are they, how to watch and who is performing?

Singer Billie Eilish will lead a star-studded line-up for the Prince of Wales’ Earthshot Prize awards ceremony in the US city of Boston.

The Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate, will fly to the US this week for Friday’s awards ceremony. William founded the awards to discover and scale up environmental solutions to repair the planet.

In addition to headliner Eilish, there will be performances from Annie Lennox, Ellie Goulding and Beyonce proteges Chloe x Halle at the MGM Music Hall in Boston.

A royal source said: “The prize has become the prince’s Super Bowl moment of the year, and he looks forward to continuing to use the platform each year to shine a light on some of the most impactful projects doing amazing things around the world to save our planet’s future.”

What is the Earthshot Prize?

Inspired by the late US president John F. Kennedy’s “Moonshot” challenge that pioneered space travel in the 1960s, it is a global environmental prize. It aims to discover and scale the best solutions to help repair the planet in the rest of this decade.

The prize is in its second year and awards each winning solution £1 million in funding to help to support their innovations.

Among the 15 finalists vying for funding awarded to each of the five category winners are a cleaner-burning stove initiative in Kenya and a bubble barrier made in the Netherlands to prevent plastics entering oceans.

There are also finalists from the UK for the first time.

Notpla Hard Material — a start-up run by Pierre Paslier and Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez in London — makes packaging from seaweed and plants as an alternative to single-use plastic. It has produced more than one million biodegradable takeaway food boxes for the food delivery firm Just Eat.

The other UK finalist — Low Carbon Materials, based in County Durham — uses unrecyclable plastic waste to make traditional concrete blocks carbon-zero.

Who is presenting the Earthshot Prize awards 2022?

Award-winning broadcaster, podcaster and television presenter Clara Amfo will return for a second year to co-host the awards alongside actor, producer and director Daniel Dae Kim.

Broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, a supporter of the Earthshot Prize since its inception, will voice the opening of the show. Oscar-winning actress and Earthshot judging panel member, Cate Blanchett, will narrate a look back at the 2021 winners.

Actor Rami Malek, who played singer Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, will present an award. Catherine O’Hara, who starred in the film Home Alone, will do likewise, as will environmental activist and actress Shailene Woodley.

Who will be performing at the Earthshot Prize awards 2022?

This year’s awards will feature performances from Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Billie Eilish accompanied by her brother and creative partner, Finneas.

Singer-songwriter and activist Annie Lennox will also be performing, as well as R&B duo Chloe x Halle and platinum-selling artist and activist Ellie Goulding.

Goulding said: “I am a big supporter of the Prince of Wales’ passion for the environment and share in the Earthshot Prize’s mission to protect and restore our planet. I am particularly excited for viewers around the world to learn about the innovative solutions presented by this year’s cohort of finalists.”

How to watch the awards ceremony

The ceremony will be broadcast on BBC One at 5.30pm on Sunday, December 4. It will also be streamed from the Earthshot Prize YouTube channel later that evening.