Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley. (Prime Minister’s Office)
- Historic moment as 2025 marks the halfway point in the Earthshot decade
- Barbados is a Finalist in the Fix Our Climate category for its global leadership in reshaping climate and development finance, and advancing resilience regionally and nationally as a Large Ocean State
- The Bridgetown Initiative is transforming international climate finance by unlocking capital for vulnerable nations, seeking to embed the value of natural assets into economic systems
- One-month countdown begins to The Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony in Rio de Janeiro on 5 November
Barbados, a Large Ocean State at the forefront of a global shift in climate finance, is today revealed as a 2025 Finalist in the world’s most prestigious and impactful environmental award, The Earthshot Prize. Barbados joins a historic coalition of leaders recognised as driving climate action and inspiring everyone to build a better future for people and planet.
Founded by HRH Prince William in 2020, The Prize recognises solutions from different geographies, sectors and stages in their life cycle, dedicated to solving our planet’s greatest challenges. The Prize in 2025 marks the halfway point in the Earthshot decade, as the mission gathers pace in this next critical juncture.
Barbados and other climate vulnerable countries risk losing decades of social and economic development progress as the frequency and severity of storms, floods, droughts and other climate hazards increase. Devastated by Hurricanes Maria (2017), Dorian (2019) and Beryl (2024) in the past few years alone, by 2050, the Caribbean could lose up to US$22 billion every year from both slow moving and sudden climate disasters. At the same time, many climate-vulnerable countries must increase their borrowing to cope with the impacts of the crisis, further compounding the fiscal burdens on governments.
Barbados is leading the call for reforms in the global climate and development finance architecture through the Bridgetown Initiative, launched by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley in 2022.
The Initiative has been a catalyst for reshaping the international financing architecture to ensure capital flows effectively to support climate resilience and sustainable development. Key achievements to date include driving the inclusion of “debt pause clauses” allowing developing countries to delay loan repayments in the aftermath of a natural disaster, playing an important role in the re-channeling of $100bn of Special Drawing Rights to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust and Resilience and Sustainability Trust, and compelling the World Bank to lower its equity-to-loan ratio from 19% to 18%, an adjustment that is expected to unlock an additional US$30 billion in lending capacity over the next decade.
Bridgetown 3.0 sets out bold reforms to boost global climate and development finance. As momentum builds toward COP30, the initiative focuses on:
- Debt-for-climate and nature swaps, which could lead to billions in debt service costs; these savings would in turn allowing governments to fund resilience projects without adding extra debt;
- Local currency financing to tap nearly $20 trillion in domestic funds across emerging markets and developing economies for climate action and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);
- Insurance-based instruments that could unlock $100–200 billion a year to help close the climate finance gap and improve disaster protection;
- Stronger investment incentives by shifting the narrative around debt and supporting the evolution of the IMF and development bank fiscal frameworks to support rather than limit, climate and nature resilience spending.
The Bridgetown Initiative has gained global attention, influencing dialogues at the IMF, the World Bank, the Fourth UN Financing for Development Conference, and COP summits, and inspiring other developing countries and island nations to raise their voices for change.
At home, Barbados’ Investment Plan for Prosperity and Resilience 2035 outlines a transformative roadmap to build a sustainable, inclusive, and climate-resilient economy. Developed by the Bridgetown Initiative Unit in the Prime Minister’s Office, the plan identifies US$11.6 billion in investments to support social wellbeing, economic growth, environmental sustainability and climate resilience.
To achieve these targets and to meet its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, Barbados is putting in place strong policy frameworks and updated climate commitments to guide reforms, cut emissions and build resilience.
The tangible results achieved by Barbados so far, combined with future ambition for impact impressed The Earthshot Prize selection committee in the search for outstanding leadership for the 2025 Prize.
Prince William, Founder and President of The Earthshot Prize said: “As we reach the halfway point of the Earthshot decade, I am truly inspired by this year’s Finalists, which embody the urgent optimism sitting right at the heart of our mission. In just five years, The Earthshot Prize has shown that the answers to our planet’s greatest challenges not only already exist, but that they are firmly within our grasp.”
The Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, said:
“For ocean states like ours, the climate crisis is an ever-present reality. Being named an Earthshot Finalist affirms Barbados’s conviction that climate leadership must be inclusive, practical and urgent. We are building a coalition-based financing system that works for the most vulnerable while delivering resilience at home through conservation initiatives and our ambitious net-zero agenda. With the Earthshot Prize’s global platform, we can scale this vision far beyond our shores, charting a path forward for all, led by those most impacted.”
As in previous years, the five Winners of this year’s Prize will be selected by HRH Prince William and fellow members of the prestigious Earthshot Prize Council, a diverse group of individuals dedicated to protecting the climate and our natural environment. The Earthshot Prize Council is chaired by The Earthshot Prize Board of Trustees Chair, Dame Christiana Figueres, architect of the Paris Climate Accord.
This year’s cohort were selected from nearly 2,500 nominees submitted by the Prize’s network of 575 nominators from 72 countries. The 15 Finalists were chosen based on assessments done by The Earthshot Prize’s selection partners and Expert Advisory Panel, a global group of more than 100 subject-matter experts with deep backgrounds in conservation, science, technology, business, finance, academia and policy.
The new Finalists join a community of 60 Finalists who are making significant progress in protecting and restoring our natural world, including:
- d.light (Clean our Air 2024 Finalist), has transformed 200 million lives in Africa with their solar-powered products.
- Notpla (Waste Free World 2022 Finalist), has replaced 21.5 million single use plastic items with sustainable seaweed packaging, and 11.6 million in 2024.
- Pristine Seas (Revive our Oceans 2021 Finalist), has established 30 of the largest marine protected areas in the world, covering a total area of 6.9 million square kilometers, more than twice the size of India, and helped to create David Attenborough’s groundbreaking Ocean Film.
- Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative (Protect and Restore Nature 2024 Winner) has helped bring the Saiga Antelope back from the brink of extinction, growing the population from around 40,000 to over 4 million in 20 years. They’ve also led the historic return of Przewalski’s horses to Kazakhstan’s wild after more than 200 years.
- Boomitra (Fix Our Climate 2023 Winner), has worked with over 10,000 farmers in Africa, India, Americas and Mongolia to adopt regenerative agricultural processes and remove nearly a million cars’ worth of CO2 from the atmosphere.
Members of The Earthshot Prize Council are Prince William, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, Cate Blanchett, Indra Nooyi, Stella McCartney, José Andrés, Wanjira Mathai, Nemonte Nenquimo, Luisa Neubauer, Naoko Yamazaki, Ernest Gibson, and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
Solutions selected align to the five ‘Earthshots’ – simple, ambitious and aspirational goals but more relevant than ever before.
To find out more about this year’s Finalists, please visit the website.
Author: Public Relations
Source: https://gisbarbados.gov.bb/blog/earthshot-prize-announces-barbados-as-2025-finalist/
