Overview

The Earthshot Prize, in partnership with the Brazilian organisation Alana and the global youth movement Design for Change, issued a press release on 23 October 2026 announcing the 15 finalist teams of the inaugural I CAN Earthshot Challenge. The challenge, the largest youth outreach ever undertaken by the Earthshot Prize, reached close to one million students across 15,000 schools in 24 Indian states.

Programme Details

The 15 finalists, representing nine Indian states plus Delhi, will travel to Mumbai in November to take part in a two‑day Children’s Earthshot programme held at the Museum of Solutions. This programme runs alongside the Earthshot Prize’s 2026 Summit. On Tuesday, 17 November, the Children’s Earthshot Awards Ceremony will be held at the same venue, where five winning teams—one from each of the Earthshot’s five categories—will be announced. Each winner will receive a US$2,000 grant to further develop and scale its solution.

Finalist Projects

The finalists’ projects address the five Earthshot themes:

  • Protect and Restore Nature: Initiatives include a rain‑water recharge system in Rajasthan that prevented playground water‑logging for 280 people, a school‑wide carbon‑neutral dashboard in Tamil Nadu reaching 23,000 individuals, and an electricity‑free groundwater filtration unit in Uttar Pradesh serving 20 local farmers.
  • Revive Our Oceans: Teams created biodegradable, oil‑free diyas for the Godavari River Kumbh Mela (≈200 diyas, 1,000 beneficiaries), a counter‑weight well‑cover for rainwater harvesting in Uttar Pradesh (benefiting 100 people), and the “Sunday Mandali” river‑bank clean‑up in Varanasi that collected over 800 plastic items and reached 100,000 people.
  • Clean Our Air: Projects feature a low‑cost, electricity‑free air filter that lowered AQI from roughly 160 to 98 and PM2.5 from 98 to 12‑30 in Bengaluru, a car‑pooling and slower‑driving campaign in Nagpur impacting 1,000 people, and a manually operated bicycle‑pump air purifier in Mumbai that cut AQI from 500 to 100 in a test chamber.
  • Build a Waste‑Free World: Solutions include reusable newspaper‑based waste bags and a school compost pit in Tamil Nadu benefiting 502 people, a floating plastic‑bottle platform for flood emergencies in Assam reaching 261 individuals, and the “Greenswap” paper‑collection and swapping platform in Gurugram that gathered nearly 6 tonnes of paper, recycling 690 kg.
  • Fix Our Climate: Initiatives comprise a low‑cost evaporative cooling crate for vegetable vendors in Punjab serving over 100 vendors, a solar‑powered automated watering system for plants in Kerala engaging 30 people, and a clay‑pot “Evapocool” classroom cooler in New Delhi impacting 301 students.

Awards and Grants

The five category winners will each receive US$2,000 to expand implementation, enhance impact, and scale their solutions within their communities. The grant amount is intended to support further development, outreach, and potential replication.

Quotes

Jason Knauf, CEO of The Earthshot Prize, highlighted the “extraordinary ingenuity” of the young finalists and emphasized that they are already building environmental solutions. Pedro Hartung, CEO of Alana, stressed children’s right to shape the world and the importance of recognising them as changemakers. Kiran Bir Sethi, Founder of Design for Change, described the “I CAN” mindset and the FIDS framework that guided the finalists.

Significance

India has produced more Earthshot Prize winners and finalists than any other country, underscoring its growing contribution to environmental innovation. The I CAN Earthshot Challenge showcases how school‑based projects can address air quality, water management, waste reduction, and climate resilience, aligning with the Earthshot’s five global goals. The upcoming Earthshot Summit in Mumbai will place India’s youth innovators in the international spotlight.