04.10.2024

The Prince William Awards select the world's most promising climate solutions

Beneficial food waste, eDNA sampling and sustainable fish feed – three European startups have reached the final of The Earthshot Prize this year, reports Euronews. Created by Prince William of the United Kingdom, the global environmental prize recognizes and funds some of the world's most promising climate solutions.

The Earthshot Prize was announced in 2019, and its first edition was in 2021. The prize will be awarded up to and including 2030. Out of nearly 2500 nominations spanning 139 countries, only 15 made it to the finals this year. Five finalists will receive a prize of £1m (€1,2m) and the winners will be announced on 6 November.

Who are the European finalists in this year's edition?

What is eDNA and how can it help businesses go green?

Helping to protect and restore nature, UK-based NatureMetrics has been shortlisted for The Earthshot Award. The startup uses ecological DNA (eDNA) technology to enable biodiversity monitoring and impact reporting. This involves collecting DNA traces from air, land and water samples, rather than from an individual plant or animal. This captures a broader picture of living organisms that call an environment home (both above and below the surface) as they secrete DNA into their surroundings.

Billed as "the world's first nature performance monitoring service," NatureMetrics transforms this data into meaningful insights to help businesses understand their nature-related dependencies, impacts and risks.

Monitoring can be used by companies to reduce their impacts, demonstrate their progress and make better business decisions that are in line with the latest environmental frameworks and science-based targets.

More than 500 companies in 104 countries already use NatureMetrics, including MSC Cruises, WWF and mining company Anglo American.

How can whiskey help make fish more sustainable?

Chosen for its efforts to revitalize our oceans, MiAlgae is another UK-based finalist. The startup is trying to tackle the sustainability challenges of fish farming. Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for both fish and human health. In the wild, fish get them from the algae and plankton they eat, which in turn makes them one of the richest sources of this type of fat.

Farmed fish are often fed omega-3 rich fish oil obtained from large quantities of wild fish. Globally, about half of all fish caught is used for fishmeal and oil – and about 70 percent of that is used in aquaculture for farmed fish and crustacean feed, according to a report published in February by Compassion in World Farming (CIWF).

It takes about 440 fish to be caught to produce one farmed salmon, according to the report. This leaves wild fish stocks either static or declining. On top of that, with the world's population growing, the demand for omega-3s has never been higher.

MiAlgae offers a solution to the circular economy problem. Using a proprietary fermentation process and whiskey distillation byproducts, the company grows nutrient-rich microalgae as a direct, plant-based source of omega-3s for aquaculture feed.

How can food waste be transformed into food ingredients?

France's Ferment-Up made it to the finals for its efforts to build a world without waste. The company uses dry fermentation to process discarded peels and seeds from fruits and vegetables into highly nutritious ingredients. This not only reduces food waste, but also reduces emissions as well as water use.

Beans from breweries' leftovers are reused as substitutes for cocoa powder and chocolate. Apple leftovers from juicing are fermented into a fruit thickener that can be used in applesauce or baking. And tomato paste becomes an umami-rich texture that can replace tomato concentrate.

As the world's population will grow to 9,3 billion by 2050, according to the United Nations, food production will need to increase by 60 percent. Tackling the 1,3 billion tonnes of food waste produced each year is a huge step in the right direction.