By Abbas Nazil
The Earthshot Prize, founded by Britain’s Prince William, has appointed Jesper Brodin as the new Chair of its Board, marking a successful leadership transition at the world’s biggest environmental award project.
Brodin, the former chief executive of IKEA, succeeds Christiana Figueres, who led the organisation during its first five years and helped establish the prize as the most prestigious global platform for environmental innovation.
The announcement comes as the prize reaches the halfway point of its 10-year mission to accelerate environmental solutions aimed at repairing the planet for sustainable living.
Founded in 2020 by Britain’s Prince William, the initiative was aimed to inspire urgent global action to tackle major environmental challenges through innovation, collaboration and large-scale investment in climate solutions.
Brodin’s three-year term as chair began on March 1, 2026, with organisers describing his leadership in sustainability and business transformation as critical for the next phase of the programme.
Prince William said Brodin’s experience in demonstrating that sustainable practices can drive business success would bring valuable expertise to the Earthshot community as it seeks to scale solutions worldwide.
He also expressed appreciation for Figueres’ leadership, noting that her vision and dedication played a pivotal role in shaping the prize into a powerful global movement for environmental action.
Figueres will continue her involvement with the organisation by joining the Earthshot Prize Council, the panel responsible for selecting the annual winners from among the finalists.
During her tenure as the inaugural chair, the prize expanded rapidly in global reach and influence, identifying more than 5,600 environmental innovations from 156 countries.
Over the past five years, the programme has recognised 75 finalists and awarded £25 million in funding to winning initiatives to help scale their solutions and accelerate environmental impact.
Beyond the direct prize funding, Earthshot finalists have collectively secured more than $500 million in additional investment from external partners and supporters.
These initiatives have contributed to protecting and restoring more than one million square kilometres of land and ocean areas worldwide, nearly double the size of France.
The projects have also prevented approximately 250,000 tonnes of waste from reaching landfill sites, an amount comparable to the weight of more than 22,000 school buses.
In addition, supported innovations have helped capture about 4.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, roughly equivalent to removing 1.2 million cars from the road for an entire year.
Since its launch, the Earthshot Prize awards ceremony has been hosted in major global cities including Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, Singapore, Boston and London.
The next awards ceremony is scheduled to take place in Mumbai in November 2026, making it the sixth host city for the global environmental event.
Each year, the prize honours five winners selected from 15 finalists working on solutions aligned with the organisation’s environmental goals.
Each winner receives £1 million in funding designed to accelerate the implementation and expansion of their innovations.
Figueres said serving as the organisation’s first chair had been an honour and that the prize had evolved from a bold idea into a global platform that celebrates human ingenuity and environmental leadership.
She added that Brodin’s experience, vision and commitment to sustainability would help guide the initiative through the next stage of its mission.
Brodin said he was honoured to take on the role at a time when urgent climate action is required and environmental solutions must be scaled rapidly.
He emphasised that the Earthshot Prize plays a unique role in bringing together innovators, governments, businesses and environmental leaders to accelerate the implementation of climate solutions worldwide.
According to him, although many solutions already exist, greater collaboration and faster deployment will be necessary to meet global climate goals by the end of the decade.
He added that the coming years will be critical for turning innovative ideas into practical solutions capable of delivering measurable environmental progress before 2030.