The Earthshot Prize Announces Boston as Host City for Second Annual Awards Ceremony

The Earthshot Prize, a global environmental prize founded by Prince William and The Royal Foundation in 2020, has announced today the selection of Boston as host city for its second annual awards ceremony to take place in early December 2022. 

Inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s ‘Moonshot,' The Earthshot Prize is an ambitious global environmental prize which aims to discover and scale the best solutions to help repair our planet during this decisive decade.​ ​Fittingly, the announcement comes on the anniversary of the moon landing, and the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation will serve as host partner alongside Mayor Michelle Wu and the City of Boston as the global awards ceremony is brought to the US for the first time.

On 12 September, 1962, in a landmark speech at Rice University, President Kennedy issued a soaring challenge to the country: to land a man on the Moon within a decade and bring them safely back to Earth. In July 1969, the Apollo 11 mission successfully landed the first two human beings on the Moon. Sixty years later, that spirit of innovation, entrepreneurship and service continues in the City of Boston and serves as the inspiration for the selection of Boston as host city.

“There is no more important Moonshot today than repairing the planet and no better place to harness the Moonshot spirit than the City of Boston,” said Ambassador Caroline Kennedy. “It is a great tribute to President Kennedy that The Earthshot Prize will partner with the JFK Library Foundation to host the 2022 ceremony in Boston and inspire a new generation with the possibility of a sustainable future.”

“In Boston, we’re not just aiming to improve Boston’s ability to tackle climate change—we’re setting an example for how imaginative, community-driven climate leadership can reshape what’s possible. We are honored and excited that Boston has been selected to host the 2022 Earthshot Awards,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “This is an opportunity to shine a global spotlight on our efforts to combat climate change and demonstrate that, together, we can meet the urgency this moment demands with innovative solutions that protect our planet and future generations.”

Mayor Wu's administration is committed to making Boston a Green New Deal city by leading the charge to mitigate the threats of climate change while transitioning to a thriving green economy. Within Mayor Wu’s first few months in office, she has signed her first ordinance to divest City-funds from the fossil fuel, tobacco, and private prison industries, and has taken transformative steps to enhance connectivity in Boston while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 

Every year The Earthshot Prize will find and reward solutions to five ‘Earthshot’ goals – Protect and restore nature; Clean our air; Revive our oceans; Build a waste-free world; and Fix our climate. These winning solutions will have the greatest impact on the biggest environmental challenges facing our planet and each winner will receive £1 million to scale their solutions. Each year, cities from across the world, dedicated to creating a sustainable future for and with their communities, will be transformed into Earthshot venues, showcasing the worldwide impact of the Prize and profiling the incredible people working to repair our planet both locally and globally. 

The second annual awards ceremony will celebrate this year’s cohort of fifteen incredible global Finalists before awarding the five Winners of The Earthshot Prize.  Last year’s first-ever awards ceremony took place in London, featured show-stopping musical performances, and introduced the world to the individuals and teams whose solutions have the power to help repair the planet and improve life for people everywhere.

About The Earthshot Prize:

Founded by Prince William and The Royal Foundation in 2020, The Earthshot Prize is a global environmental prize to discover, accelerate and scale ground-breaking solutions to repair and regenerate the planet. Inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s Moonshot which united millions of people around the goal of reaching the moon, The Earthshot Prize aims to catalyse an Earthshot challenge to urgently encourage and scale innovative solutions that can help put the world firmly on a trajectory towards a stable climate, where communities, oceans and biodiversity thrive in harmony by 2030. The five Earthshot challenges are: Protect and Restore Nature; Clean our Air; Revive our Oceans; Build a Waste-free World; and Fix our Climate.

The Prize aims to turn the current pessimism surrounding environmental issues into optimism, by championing inspiring leadership and helping to scale incredible cutting-edge solutions. More than a Prize, the Earthshot Prize works in partnership with a Global Alliance of Partners to support the scaling of the solutions discovered and selected each year. 

About The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation:

The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation is the non-profit partner and creative collaborator of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, which is administered by the United States National Archives and Records Administration. Over the past forty years, this partnership has produced world class exhibits, the largest, most advanced digital archive created by a presidential library, award-winning educational and digital resources, and public programs that make the Library the largest convener of public dialogues in the Boston area. Grounded in the archival evidence, these activities promote a greater appreciation of America’s political and cultural heritage, help people understand the major challenges facing democracy today, and inspire new generations to engage with the issues at the heart of contemporary life that relate to the legacy of President John F. Kennedy.