The Earthshot Report

This Program was made possible, in part, by a grant from Anne Ray Foundation.

a Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropy.

And contribution to PBS stations from viewers like you.

Thank you.

Prince William: The Earthshot Prize was launched in 2021...

Welcome to the first-ever Earthshot Prize, everyone!

Prince William, voice-over: to spotlight and support people from across the world, who were coming up with groundbreaking innovations to help repair our planet.

This award will help us scale our solution worldwide.

Prince William: They're just a sample of a new wave of inventors, doers, and thinkers, who are enabling us to feel hope and optimism despite the negative forecasts.

Now, in 2024, individuals, communities, and nations are innovating like never before.

More and more people are joining the journey to protect the future of our planet.

[Laughter] Prince William: In this film... we will catch up with previous finalists of the Earthshot Prize to discover how their ideas are scaling up... as well as exploring some of the game-changing solutions, exciting new trends, and global breakthroughs of 2024.

This is "The Earthshot Report 2024."

Here to help tell us about the progress that's been made and the challenges we still face is a good friend of the Earthshot Prize and someone who isn't shy of a challenge-- Earthshot advocate and our host, Hannah Waddingham.

Hannah: Well, I'm probably the same as most of you.

You know, Would I describe myself as an eco-bunny or a tree-hugger?

No, not really.

But do I care about the planet?

Of course I do.

And why?

Because I live on the planet, because I have a child who lives on the planet, and because, hopefully, maybe one day, she'll have a child who lives on the planet.

And look just how beautiful it is.

We're all involved with the problems that we face, and we can all be involved with the solutions.

That's why I jumped at the chance to host the Earthshot Awards show in 2023.

The message is clear-- a better future is ours to build.

Hannah, voice-over: I felt I understood some of what we're doing wrong, but I wanted to learn a bit more about what we're actually doing right.

And I was blown away.

The world is changing so fast.

To keep perspective, when you're not an expert, you need to hear the good news as well as the bad news.

And let me tell you, I have realized and learned there is so much of the good that I want to tell you about!

People may not know this about me, but I very much grew up on boats, so this is my natural environment.

I love it.

So how about some of that good news, then?

Let's take a look at the first of our Earthshots.

Take a moment to consider this: When I was my daughter's age-- a long time ago-- the idea of powering a modern country like Britain on renewables felt an awfully long way off, but now with 48 turbines, this site creates enough energy to power 150,000 homes each year.

Isn't that incredible?

Whilst the growth in renewables does have its complexities, 2024 has certainly been a breakthrough year in the UK's sustainable energy production.

For the first time ever, renewables made up over half of the country's power generation for most of the year.

Britain shut down its last coal-fired power plant, and plans were approved for nine more offshore wind farm projects.

It's amazing to see a massive metal structure created by man that's actually doing some good for the environment.

Building them at sea really does make sense.

The winds are more consistent... [Laughs] and very much stronger.

There's also plenty of space out here-- beautiful space.

Back over there, on land, as we all know, space is at a premium.

The other great renewable technology--solar power-- is on target to be the biggest single source of electricity on the planet by 2030.

But the panels can compete for space with something else we'd like to use the land for--food.

So is there a way of farming the sun and the land at the same time?

Let's do it.

Man: Society has two things.

We have our people and we have our land.

You need to keep your people healthy and prosperous, and you need to keep your land healthy and prosperous.

My name is Byron Kominek, owner and manager of Jack's Solar Garden and the director of the Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center.

Agrivoltaics is simply agriculture plus photovoltaics, which is solar panels, smashed together to get agri-voltaics.

Singers: Hey, hey, hey Traditional solar developments only harvest the sun once.

At Jack's Solar Garden, we harvest it twice.

Hannah: With 3,000 solar panels, Jack's Solar Garden generates enough renewable energy to power around 300 homes and, at the same time, creates the perfect conditions for lots of different and delicious crops to thrive.

The panels keep some of the crops protected in the heat of the day and shield them from the cold at night.

These conditions also reduce evaporation in the soil, saving water.

Byron: Can I eat a couple of these?

Hannah: Some plants love the climate under the panels so much that they grow larger, and, some say, tastier, than they would in full sun.

Mmm.

Just sweetness.

Mmm, mmm, mmm.

Byron: As society shifts to more clean energy, we're going to need a lot more space for solar panels.

Hannah: Agrivoltaics was first developed in the 1980s but is now set to boom in the coming years, as countries look to increase renewable energy production and make better use of land.

And people around the world are coming up with all sorts of approaches.

Byron: Japan, I've heard about growing mushrooms underneath the solar panels.

In France, they're growing wine grapes underneath of them.

There's a site in Netherlands with a huge raspberry plantation underneath solar panels.

Folks are trying different things everywhere.

Hannah: Studies suggest that agrivoltaics on less than 1% of global cropland could generate enough energy to cater for the world's current electricity needs.

Byron: Our nonprofit is trying to share more information about our experiences with agrivoltaics, so that folks better understand what's possible.

Byron, voice-over: This year we had the World Agrivoltaics Conference come out to visit us.

We had over 120 people from all over the world-- French, Belgian, German, South Korean, Taiwanese-- to learn more about how we do agrivoltaics here in Boulder County, Colorado.

It's exciting to see what he's done here.

Man: I am impressed by all the varieties of crops, all the clever improvements they do to the system.

Woman: Hopefully, we get the chance to replicate models like this around the world.

Hannah: We need renewables to scale up exponentially, and that seems to be happening.

The latest predictions suggest that in 2025, renewables will become the world's top source of electricity.

Byron: Solar can help farms continue to exist.

Being able to keep the land in production underneath the panels helps us be able to provide jobs to other folks within our community.

And it feels good by us that our land is staying productive.

The whole point of solar energy is to do right by our environment at the same time of producing clean energy to mitigate climate change.

I'm one steward in the history of this land, and if I can do better by it now and have it in a better situation for those that take it over in the future, that's my job.

Hannah: The global rise in renewables is in stark contrast to the global fall of nature.

[Squawks] Reports this year show that the planet's wildlife populations have dropped on average by more than 2/3 since 1970.

If we are to halt this decline, we need to find new approaches to protecting the natural world.

And in 2024, leading the way are the people that live in some of the most biodiverse places on Earth.

[Exhales] [Laughs] Toma dos.

[Laughs] Yo me llamo Uyunkar Domingo Peas Nampichkai.

Dedico en la convervacin del ecosistema, de la cultura, del pueblo Achuar, y todos los indgenas de Amazonia.

Aqui vivimos miles de aos, y el bosque an sigue siendo intacto.

Hannah: When you look at where nature still thrives, one thing is clear: Indigenous peoples have an incredible record for protecting the living world.

There are many reasons for this, but one is that these communities acknowledge the animals and plants around them as equal to themselves.

Uyunkar Domingo Peas: Es un ser vivo.

Es igual derecho del ser humano.

Hannah: And now Indigenous communities, such as Domingo's, are coming together to demand that nature gets the protection they believe it deserves.

Domingo: Alianza Cuencas Sagradas es pedido de los pueblos indgenas y de la naturaleza.

Es la proteccin permanente de 35 millones de hectreas entre 30 pueblos indgenas de Per, Ecuador.

Hannah: The Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance works to support Indigenous communities to conserve forests and defend the right to their land.

Driven by an intrinsic belief that nature has the right to exist and flourish, the alliance actively reforests and monitors the wildlife in their territories.

It also runs a leadership school, where young people learn techniques in looking after their ecosystem, all of which make the next generation even better stewards of their forest.

And now the alliance is acting on its belief that nature deserves something equivalent to human rights, by teaming up with new allies.

My name is Atossa Soltani.

From a very young age, I fell in love with the rainforest and have basically felt called to supporting Indigenous peoples and their incredible role in being guardians of the forest.

[Indistinct conversation] Atossa, voice-over: The Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature is a movement of activists, scientists, Indigenous peoples, lawyers, governments, who are committed to the protection of nature.

We have launched the citizens' Tribunal for the Rights of Nature.

The tribunal is raising awareness both about the places that are being harmed and the perpetrators of the harm.

Speaker: All species in relation to and among them depend on the climate... Hannah: In the forum of the tribunal, working with expert witnesses and lawyers, Indigenous peoples bring their voice to the global stage and help to make the case for nature as strong as possible.

[Speaking Spanish, indistinct] Hannah: The rights of nature idea is gaining traction.

In 2024, 39 countries, including Spain, New Zealand, and several U.S. local governments, have all advanced or established Rights of Nature within their legal systems.

Woman: Muchas gracias.

Hannah: Ecuador, which is home to several of the alliance's communities, has perhaps gone the furthest, and written the Rights of Nature into its constitution.

For leaders such as Domingo, the movement means they're being heard.

Domingo: Nosotros antes gritabamos en nuestro entorno, solitos.

Nuestro mensaje no llegaba al mundo moderno.

Pero hoy en da, muchos expertos ambientalistas, hasta legalistas, se han dado cuenta que el mundo natural habla y tiene derecho.

Entonces yo siento que se esta creando, se esta abriendo la conciencia.

Es lo que ms alegra me da a m.

Hannah: Since 2021, in a host of different ways, Earthshot finalists like the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance have protected thousands of square kilometers of land and ocean.

They join thousands of projects worldwide, working, often in isolation, to restore nature.

But doing anything alone can be difficult, which is why one Earthshot finalist has made it his mission to connect them all together.

Yeah, see what birds are around us.

I should be better at being able to ID them myself, but now that the phone can do it... It says there's a dog.

Ha!

[Dog barks] [Birds chirping] I'm Tom Crowther.

I'm an ecologist at the Crowther Lab, and I'm the founder of Restor, an international restoration network.

Right now there are millions of people who are already protecting nature across the planet, but most of them, until now, have been doing so in isolation.

They don't know if anyone else is doing it nearby, they don't know if they're doing the right thing.

Hannah: For restoration to be successful at scale, it must be collaborative.

Tom's platform helps conservation projects to connect, and share a wealth of environmental data.

Tom: Restor is like a Google Maps but for nature, where everyone everywhere can engage in the restoration process.

Hannah: Anyone from sustainable farmers to conservation groups can map their project and share their story.

Users can gain scientific insights that make monitoring restoration easier, like understanding soil types and rainfall patterns or identifying how much tree cover their land could support.

Back in 2021 we had around 40,000 projects.

Now we have over 300,000.

And we want to turn that into millions and then hundreds of millions.

Hannah: Now Restor is partnering with 2021 Earthshot winner the Republic of Costa Rica to assess just how much the country's world-leading conservation projects have achieved in restoring biodiversity.

Tom: Biodiversity is the life support system that sustains everything that we need... this immensely interconnected and complex system, where millions of species interact with one another to support life on the planet.

Measuring biodiversity is one of the most inherently difficult challenges in ecology.

But one really exciting avenue in the last few years is the emergence of soundscapes.

We can record the sound of biodiversity.

[Bird chirping, animals calling] And because all the different species fill a different niche in that soundscape, you can start to get a picture of how complex and healthy those ecosystems are.

This one, that'll go around that tree.

Hannah: To find out how biodiversity is recovering in Costa Rica, a research team have recorded soundscapes across hundreds of sites.

[Animals calling] Tom: What we're interested in is how natural the soundscape is.

We're looking for those restoration sites to get closer and closer to the sound of the natural intact forest.

[Recording of animal calls] Woman: So what are you hearing?

What are you hearing here?

Man: You have some parrots, right now, calling.

[Recording continues] Tom: You hear a "ta-tuite, ta-tuite."

Well, that's a manakin and now toucans.

Hannah: This year, Tom and the team are analyzing the results.

Initial findings are positive.

We've seen massive scale recovery across the entire country.

We never dreamed that the whole complexity of the soundscape would be recovering so well.

It just shows how resilient and astonishing these ecosystems are.

Hannah: Tom's team are working towards hosting all of Costa Rica's protected and wilderness areas on Restor, making their nature restoration efforts transparent to the entire world.

Costa Rica's move to show their projects transparently is a game-changer, and now other countries are following suit.

This is the decade that we are supposed to turn around biodiversity loss.

And it's only when all of us are collectively interacting to shape this movement that it'll start to really have resilience.

[Cheering] [Player kicks ball] Ah, football-- the beautiful game.

The roar of the crowd, the thrill of the goal.

It is the most popular sport in the world, and on Saturday mornings like this, millions will be getting ready to play or watch as the drama unfolds.

Like most of our lives, it relies heavily on one miracle component-- plastic.

The balls contain plastic.

The cones and the training aids are plastic.

Good morning.

Even many of the pitches we play on are part or all plastic as well.

It's an unavoidable part of matchday, and it's essential for so much of our daily lives.

I mean, I totally get it.

I, too, would prefer to sit in a comfy plastic seat rather than on the cold concrete any day of the week, but we do have a plastic problem, and reducing our reliance on throw-away, single-use plastic is a huge challenge facing the world.

One of those challenges is single-use plastic used for food and drink packaging at large-scale events, like music festivals, public celebrations, or, you guessed it, football matches.

[Cheering] [Whistle blows] To help build a waste-free world where we can still enjoy huge events like these, we not only need to think about plastic replacements, we also need to make a massive change on an even bigger scale.

Got it?

But you know what?

There is a company that is doing just that.

Take a look.

Hi.

Hello.

[Chuckles] Man: Notpla take 1.

So professional.

[Laughs] My name is Pierre Paslier.

I am co-founder and co-CEO of Notpla.

I'm Rodrigo Garca, co-founder and co-CEO of Notpla.

Notpla stands for "not plastic," and our mission is to make as many single-use plastic packaging disappear.

Pierre, voice-over: Rodrigo is a super creative inventor.

He will think of the problem that everyone is looking at from a completely different angle.

Rodrigo, voice-over: Pierre has the superpower of a positive attitude.

Every type of challenge or problem, he sees it, as well, with a smile and a laugh, and I think that's quite contagious for everyone in the team.

Pierre, voice-over: We're based in London.

In Hackney Wick, which is where plastic was invented 150 years ago.

The crazy thing about plastic is that it's been on this planet for a very short amount of time.

Nature has zero idea of how to deal with it, and it means that it's therefore indestructible.

It just fragments into smaller pieces, finds its way everywhere-- in our ocean, in the food chain, eventually in our bodies-- and the problem is that those little fragments, they start to mess with the system.

Rodrigo: Nature is amazing in the way that they conceive packaging.

You thinking, any fruit-- an apple, a coconut, a banana-- the packaging is really functional, but the most amazing thing, at least for us, is that you can throw it away.

It's all a circular system.

Pierre: At the very beginning, we were really intrigued about how we could create a manmade fruit, something that would feel like it comes from a tree but would package something as simple as water.

After countless iterations with all sorts of natural materials from tapioca seeds to cellulose starch gums, we found that seaweed could be used.

And that was really the moment where we were like, "Wow.

There's something interesting happening here."

Hannah: By extracting parts of the seaweed that mimic some of the properties of plastic, Pierre and Rodrigo were able to develop a flexible film that can be rolled out, shaped, and processed for a whole range of different uses.

Rodrigo: This is an Ooho, our first product.

It's called Ooho because people make that sound when they see it for the first time, like, "Ooh-oh."

And Ooho is a membrane made out of seaweed that can contain liquids, and the ability of it is that not only can contain liquids, but, like, you can eat it.

Pierre: When you think of something that needs to replace plastic, at scale, and have the most optimized impact, seaweed really does the job.

Hannah: Seaweed is one of the fastest-growing plants on the planet, and as it grows, it absorbs large amounts of carbon dioxide, making it a low-carbon resource.

It requires no pesticides or fresh water and is naturally biodegradable, meaning that wherever it ends up, it's never going to create long-lasting waste.

Pierre: Beyond Ooho, we realized that there was lots of other ways of using seaweed to replace all types of single-use plastics.

Rodrigo: We have Ooho for packaging liquids in an edible form.

We have flexible films to make little bags, or sachets, that can be soluble.

Pierre: We have the pipettes for olive oil.

We can convert the seaweed into a rigid material to make cutlery.

Pierre: We can use the seaweed fibers for making paper.

And we have the coating for takeaway boxes.

Hannah: Many cardboard takeaway food containers still contain a thin layer of plastic to help hold the grease and moisture from food, making them difficult to recycle.

But Notpla have found a way to replace that plastic coating with their seaweed technology, creating a cardboard container that is fully biodegradable.

Rodrigo: Packaging is a game of scale.

The more packaging you make, the cheaper that you can make it and more competitive and more impact you can have.

Hannah: In 2024, for the first time, Notpla partnered with 50 stadiums from across the UK and Ireland, with plans to expand out to the U.S., too.

Rodrigo: Thanks to these big volumes, we can start to be quite competitive with other plastic containers in the market.

Hannah: Since winning the Earthshot Prize in 2022, Notpla say they have replaced over 4 million single-use plastics with their solutions.

And with their growing partnerships, like the stadiums this year, they hope to replace 100 million more by 2027.

[Cheering] Hannah: Innovators like Notpla are helping us find ways to build a waste-free world.

But waste is a problem in many industries.

Globally, the production of textiles is expected to increase by 50% this decade.

With this growth, finding more sustainable materials to design and make our clothes has never been more timely.

OK, good luck, guys.

I think people would be surprised if they know that this is made from pineapple fibers.

But they sell so well, I think most people are quite happy to know the story behind what they buy, where it comes from, and what is its value for people on the planet.

I'm Carmen Hijosa.

I'm the founder of Ananas Anam, and I'm also the inventor of PiaTex.

My first company was manufacturing fashion accessories with leather, and I did that for 15 years.

I was asked to do some consultancy in the Philippines, developing products made with leather.

Then I started to really search into what is leather-- how it is produced, and then I discovered that it's so unsustainable.

Hannah: Carmen started looking for a more sustainable alternative, and she found inspiration in an unusual source.

Carmen: Pineapple is one of the most popular fruits in the world.

It's a huge business.

Every year, they are growing about 29 million tons of pineapples.

A plant gives one pineapple.

That's the main crop, and then you've got this huge amount of leaves, which can be 20 to 30 to 40 leaves per plant.

If we don't use the leaves, they are left to rot in the ground and worse, they are burned, meaning that there is CO2 going into the atmosphere.

We have come about with a solution, turning waste into an opportunity.

Hannah: Carmen's company, Ananas Anam, transforms the waste from the pineapple harvest into low-impact textiles.

Because the leaves are from the existing crop, no extra land, water, or pesticides are needed to produce the raw material.

Carmen: We work with about 10 different farms, from small cooperatives to big multinationals.

They gather the leaves, they extract the fibers, they wash them with just water, and they dry them in the sun.

This is actually the pineapple leaf fiber.

It's really amazing because you can see it's long but it's very fine.

It's finer than a hair, but it's very strong and flexible.

And these characteristics, it's really what we need to develop our product.

It's perfect.

Hannah: Ananas Anam makes two materials-- PiaTex--a durable textile used to make everything from clothes and accessories to shoes and even furnishings-- and PiaYarn, a 100% biodegradable fiber that can be transformed into woven or jersey fabrics.

Carmen, voice-over: We process our materials in a very economical way.

We use pigments, we don't use dyes, so we use very little water.

We use resins which are plant-based.

We don't use any bleach, any chemicals.

It is one of the most sustainable processes that you can have in the textile world.

At the social community level, we're bringing new jobs into Indigenous communities and very isolated places.

This gives jobs particularly to women.

It holds the communities together.

We're bringing a product that has really a very, very good environmental and social impact, and I think this is a counterbalance to the huge negative impact of, for example, fast fashion.

Hannah: And the positive impact is growing.

Experts and pioneers from around the world are coming together to share the latest technology and innovations in sustainable fashion.

The global sustainable fashion market is projected to soar to over $33 billion by 2030.

With exciting new solutions and materials being developed, it's clear that these next-generation materials are part of a wider movement to reshape the fashion industry.

Carmen: I can see a change in consumer behavior.

It gives me great hope.

[Waves breaking] Hannah: To have a healthy planet, we must also have a healthy ocean.

But to date, less than 8% is under some sort of protection.

For Earthshot finalists, the work to protect our oceans never stops.

And there's still a lot to do.

In 2022, 196 countries agreed to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030, a project known as 30x30.

And the race is on to reach this goal, with one Earthshot finalist steering things in the right direction.

Man: Before you head out on an expedition, there's always a lot of excitement but also trepidation.

Is the weather gonna be good?

Are the places gonna be like what you think they're supposed to be like?

Man: Ready!

Then you jump in the water... and then the magic happens.

I'm Alan Friedlander, senior marine scientist for Pristine Seas Program.

The Pristine Seas program is trying to support local and national conservation efforts to protect vital places in the ocean.

Hannah: Pristine Seas is a project working to protect 30% of our oceans by 2030 in its own unique way.

It was a lovely reef for the first dive.

A super high diversity of fish, back in school.

Hannah: Their project helps to speed up the creation of marine-protected areas by combining two specialist skills-- science and filmmaking.

Conservationist: Oh, wow.

Isn't that crazy?

It's a different genus of clownfish.

Researcher: Yeah!

Nemo.

Ha ha!

No, double Nemo.

Hannah: A crew of filmmakers capture the beauty of the ocean to bring its importance to life for local communities and those with the power to protect it while a group of scientists collect the data needed to help governments identify where protection is most needed.

Alan: You can't protect what you don't understand, so we try to paint a comprehensive picture of what the entire ecosystem looks like and how it functions.

We've done 46 expeditions over the last 15 years and seen some of the last wild places in the ocean.

They're truly inspiring places.

Hannah: In 2024, the team is in the middle of their biggest challenge yet-- a five-year expedition in the tropical Pacific.

Their dedicated research vessel can reach remote, less-studied areas in the ocean and survey them from the surface to the deep, using a variety of cutting-edge technology.

Conservationist: ROV dropping.

We are at about 300 meters depth.

We just got down to the seafloor.

Hannah: From camera systems that drop thousands of meters... Conservationist: So cool.

That's awesome.

Very cool.

...to painstaking coral reef fish surveys, the team utilizes every tool at their disposal to map the health of the marine environment and the pressures it faces.

Governments and communities then use this information to decide where and how to protect their seas.

Alan: We are focusing primarily on remote places but also communities that really want more information about what's going on with their marine environment.

Hannah: This year, Pristine Seas collaborated with the Government of Palau to study remote parts of their waters and help identify areas that need increased protection.

Alan: We have local Palauan researchers on the expedition.

They bring a wealth of knowledge of the ocean, how it functions in all the rhythms and processes.

Researcher: It looks really calm.

We're very fortunate.

It depends on the time of the year, but sometimes this is like a washing machine.

Hannah: Palau is home to one of the biggest marine sanctuaries in the world, and local knowledge has helped safeguard underwater habitats here for centuries.

Alan: Palau's a hotspot for marine biodiversity.

It's like a wonderland underwater.

The Southwest Islands are a very remote part of Palau, where there's not a lot of existing information.

Everything from the shallow water down to the deep sea, we're able to provide information that didn't exist before.

Hannah: Scientists counted the species living on Palau's reefs and searched for evidence of threats, like illegal fishing, to help inform the government where greater protection is needed.

Conservationist: All of these things live in the waters just off of Sonsorol.

Hannah: And the team brought the wonders of the underwater world to the local community, sharing footage of their findings.

Look at that.

Kids: Oh!

All of those sharks.

That's all over in the channel.

Alan: Hopefully, the results from our expedition provides information for the Palau government to increase their efforts for surveillance and enforcement in this critical place.

Look at these...

The only thing that will prevent us will be current, but my calculations, it should be good.

Alan: It's essential that modern science and traditional knowledge work together to make more effective management for the future.

Hannah: And it's working!

Since 2008, Pristine Seas has helped to establish 29 of the largest marine-protected areas in the world--a space the size of the Amazon region.

They are just one of many working towards protecting 30% of our oceans by 2030.

And the next few years are key to reaching this goal.

Alan: Now's a real opportunity to redouble our efforts for marine and global conservation.

What we do in the next few years will really determine the fate of not only the oceans, but humanity moving forward.

Hannah: London is my hometown.

I've lived and worked here all my life.

I am a proper South London girl, born and bred, and I will always be a very proud Londoner first, but, unfortunately, it does have a bit of a grubby history.

At the peak of the industrial revolution, London's air was thick with pollution, with dense, black fog hanging over the city, giving it the nickname "The Big Smoke."

When I was a child, I remember them scrubbing the soot off the Houses of Parliament, revealing this beautiful, gleaming pale limestone hidden under layers and layers of filth.

I genuinely thought it had been painted black before that!

Thankfully, pollution levels here in London are now just 1/40th of what they were at their peak.

Isn't that amazing?

But, globally, there is still a long way to go and a much quieter, much cleaner kind of revolution is helping us get there.

It's the EV, or electric vehicle, revolution.

And even London cabbies are getting in on the action.

Although there are still challenges, like limited charging infrastructure and high upfront costs... Hannah: Can you take me to South Bank?

Cab driver: Certainly.

No problem.

Hannah, voice-over: electric vehicle uptake is gaining momentum.

In 2024, around 1/5 of new vehicles sold globally were fully electric.

This is a huge leap, more than double what it was three years before.

What were you saying, Gary?

Well, I love having an electric vehicle, Han.

See?

So, finding ways to make EVs--electric vehicles-- cheaper and more accessible is key to helping, well, all of us make the switch.

And with that in mind, In Kenya, one company in particular is really blazing the trail.

Man: We call ourselves Roamans.

We're, like, an army of nerds, who just want to build amazing stuff.

Ha ha!

Roam wasn't built in a day.

It wasn't.

Ha ha!

It definitely wasn't.

My name is Lumbi.

I'm the technical product manager at Roam Electric.

Roam's mission is quite simple.

We want to electrify Africa one vehicle at a time.

We are designing solutions that are meant for Africa-- designed by Africans for Africans.

80% of Kenyans rely on motorcycles in one way or another... [Horns honking] from the delivery of vegetables to your local market.

Some will use it as their commuter vehicles.

Others use it as their taxi to get to their workplace or get to the nearest bus station.

Hannah: Despite being the easiest and cheapest way to get around, motorcycles are amongst the highest polluting vehicles.

Lumbi: These bikes are being used in the slum.

So the air quality and the people who are most affected by it is extremely low, which is where electric motorcycles come into play.

The Roam Air is our motorcycle solution for people who require a motorcycle for their everyday needs.

It's a very comfortable bike... built to be able to withstand varying environments, varying terrains.

You can go on Tarmac roads.

You can go a bit of off-road.

You can be in the hottest areas in Africa, also be in the coldest areas of Africa.

It's been designed to be as utilitarian as possible.

Very functional.

Vivian: It's economical, and it's environmentally-friendly.

Ivy: They are efficient, and they are the future.

Lumbi: It does look cool as well.

Hannah: Roam bikes are not only versatile, like most electric vehicles, they're cheaper to run than your average petrol or diesel vehicle.

The bikes are powered by two batteries, and, when fully charged, they can travel for around 180 kilometers.

And because electricity is cheaper than petrol, Roam estimates drivers can cut their running costs by around 75%.

That is a gamechanger for so many people.

It means your standards of living are higher.

It means you can afford healthcare, you can afford school fees.

It completely changes the narrative of what an EV can do, basically taking the solution to the people who actually need it.

[Horn honks] Hannah: To help make charging accessible, Lumbi and the team developed Roam Hubs.

Lumbi: Many people live in apartment blocks.

They live in rural areas, they live in slums, so they want to be able to have the freedom to choose where they charge.

Hannah: Just like a typical gas station, the hubs allow riders to drop in and charge their batteries, or rent a spare to go.

Lumbi: At the moment, we have 5 Roam Hubs and 10 more planned along the way for the course of the year.

To me, 2024 is quite exciting.

It's quite an important year.

We proved the tech.

The market loves the product.

And everything we're doing is breaking the barrier of what engineering looks like in Africa.

Hannah: Roam say that with every 300 bikes on the road, they're preventing around a thousand tons of CO2 emissions from going into the atmosphere each year.

With plans to scale production to over 50,000 bikes per year, they're taking great strides in revolutionizing African transport.

Lumbi: We are literally bordered by the national park on one side and the city on the other side.

It's quite representative of the exact work that we do, bridging the gap between nature and how to develop sustainably into the future.

Roam is a team of young and talented professionals.

We are a team of people who believe in designing the best that can come out of Africa.

Ivy: Kenyan ingenuity, to me, is the ability of us engineers to be able to be part of the development of our own products.

Back at the very beginning of our development phases, we used to have 10, 20 bikes on the road.

I knew each and every rider who was on our bikes.

I'd just see their helmet or the way they are dressed and just wave at them.

Now I'm waving at people and they're like, "Who are you?"

But I'm still so happy to see each and every one of them.

We are building Africa one vehicle at a time.

The more players and the more hands we can hold along the way, the better.

Hannah: Africa now has the fastest-growing cities in the world.

Incredible people like Lumbi and the team are helping these cities to clean their air as they grow.

And there is another African innovator in the Earthshot community who is tackling a different source of air pollution across the continent.

My name is Charlot Magayi.

I'm the CEO and founder of Mukuru Clean Stoves-- the social enterprise that recycles waste metal to manufacture improved cook stoves.

In Africa, there's about 1.2 billion people.

950 million of those rely on inefficient stoves and solid fuels to cook.

These households are the ones who live at the base of the economic pyramid.

They earn $40 to $100 monthly income, and they use up 1/3 of that on just that firewood, because it burns inefficiently.

And inhaling that smoke that comes out of it causes lung cancer.

It causes other respiratory illnesses.

This results in a million deaths every single year in Africa alone.

Mukuru was named after one of the biggest slums in Kenya.

I grew up there.

My dad died when I was 2 years, and my mum raised me up until I was about 10 years, and then she died as well.

Then at 16, I fell pregnant.

And when my daughter was about 2 years old, she got burnt by a traditional stove.

I turned around for one second, and when I turned back, the stove and the pot are on top of her.

In that moment, I just wanted my daughter to be OK.

But I started thinking, What could I build?

Initially, I wanted to make a stable stove to limit the risk of burns in children under the age of 5.

And while doing research on that, I found out that household air pollution and the high cost of fuel were two of the major problems facing my community.

So, I designed a stove that would solve all 3 problems.

Hannah: Charlot's stoves are built using recycled metal and an insulated ceramic center.

This insulation helps food to cook at a faster rate whilst also burning fuel more efficiently than a traditional cook stove.

Needing around 50% less fuel, they can help to reduce household air pollution by up to 90%.

They're cheaper, too, costing just $10.

Charlot: Over the last 7 years, we've managed to enable households to save over $50 million in fuel consumption costs.

We partner with local women business owners.

[Speaking native language] We work with the most vibrant women-- those women in the community who are very outspoken, the ones who understand that communities need to be educated but also the ones who are excited about bringing solutions.

They're the ones who end up selling the stoves, and they earn a 10% commission on it.

I believe that for us, as Mukuru, for every community that we enter, we need to ensure that we leave it better than we found it, and the best way to do that is to work with the women in that community.

Hannah: Since winning the Earthshot Prize in 2022, Charlot has expanded out from stoves to fuel, using agricultural waste, like maize cobs and sugarcane, to make fuel briquettes.

As well as being a cleaner alternative to solid fuels, the briquettes are also transforming the local economy.

Through an initiative called Waste to Fuel for Stoves, customers can swap their agricultural waste in exchange for cash to put towards a stove.

Charlot: This ensures that families that do not have access to cash can still access our stoves easily.

Hannah: But Charlot and her team are still not done.

This year, they have turned their attention to a new research project-- developing a briquette that is infused with a natural mosquito repellent, protecting families from the threat of malaria and reducing household air pollution at the same time.

[Charlot speaking native language] Charlot, voice-over: To date, we have sold over half a million cook stoves across 6 counties in western Kenya, working with over a thousand local women business owners.

[Continues in native language] Charlot, voice-over: Over the next few years, we want to distribute 10 million stoves across different African markets.

[Laughter] Charlot, voice-over: When I started Mukuru, I had no fear of failing because, the way I grew up, you weren't at a level where you could fall down.

You were already down.

No one was expecting more, and there was no pressure to keep going, which is the reason why I kept going.

It's been a really exhilarating journey of reaching new milestones and being shocked that you reached that, but as soon as the shock subsides, you're like, "OK, now let's go for the bigger one."

If you allow people the resources they need, you allow them to dream.

A lot of people, especially the ones who grew up in poverty, their biggest dream is their next meal.

So, they cannot worry about saving the world, they cannot worry about climate change.

They don't know about household air pollution.

If people have their basic needs covered, they're able to solve world problems.

In the beginning, my dream was very tiny-- just for Mukuru-- and it seemed so big.

But now I have bigger dreams... dreams that match the rooms I've walked in.

Hannah: Africa has a young population.

70% of the people south of the Sahara are under 30, and young people here are embracing new ideas with energy and optimism.

[Players speaking native language] Hannah: Over the years, we've seen some incredible examples of this at the Earthshot Prize.

And the solutions that work here can often roll out across the globe... which is why we chose to host the 2024 Earthshot Prize Awards in Cape Town, South Africa.

Billy Porter: Welcome to the Earthshot Prize 2024!

[Cheering and applause] Nomzamo Mbatha: When the awards were founded four years ago, the intention was to spark hope and action.

Prince William: We want to make this the decade in which we transform the world for good.

Hannah: 15 new finalists and five Earthshot winners were announced... Keep IT Cool.

[Cheering] Hannah: shining a spotlight on some of the most exciting solutions being developed from around the world.

Desmond Alugnoa: This is to the youth of Africa.

This is to the youth in the world.

Thank you.

[Cheering] Hannah: But these finalists are just the tip of the iceberg.

Each year, more and more people are getting involved with repairing out planet.

Prince William: And I now invite you to join the movement for climate innovation that's happening around the world.

Because that's why we're here-- to champion the dreamers, the thinkers, and the innovators from every walk of life who share an ambition to build a better, more sustainable world.

That is why the Earthshot Prize exists.

[Cheering and applause] Hannah, voice-over: 2024 has certainly been momentous.

So to bring the curtain down on our review of the year... Hannah: Thanks, Gary.

where better to come than Shakespeare's Globe theater.

Ahh.

Oh, it makes me a bit emotional.

Shakespeare's work is actually full of references to a planet under pressure.

His plays point to declining fish stocks and disappearing animals.

He attacks the idea that the earth's resources are inexhaustible, and, of course, there is a wealth of extreme weather in his work.

The original Globe theater was even built out of recycled timber because there was such a massive issue with deforestation even then.

It goes to show that we've faced massive problems before, but what's different now is our ability to find ingenious solutions to those problems.

And it's not just about finding those solutions, it's about scaling them.

The people we've seen over the last hour are all testament to that, and have made huge strides over the past 12 months.

But we cannot rely on them alone.

As Shakespeare famously said, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players."

If we are going to make sure that the real globe remains healthy and habitable for generations to come, we all need to step up and play our part, too.