21 December 2023 / WORDS BY Pollination

The Earthshot Prize 2024 launched in October and Pollination is proud to be an Official Nominator. We’ve been selected to draw on our unique expertise across climate and nature to identify the most inspiring, impactful and inclusive solutions which would qualify for a one-million-pound prize.

We have nominated the following initiatives based on their potential to repair and regenerate our planet and inspire others to do so.

19 December 2023 / WORDS BY Jane Hutchinson, Maggie Comstock and Sara Oishi

The UAE COP28 Presidency had high ambitions for this year’s conference, hoping it would catalyse “unprecedented” action, including with respect to nature, clean air and water, and healthy food. Nature was a pervasive topic throughout the event and there were several significant announcements related to investments in forest protection, water resources, and regenerative agriculture — along with new initiatives related to building capacity for nature finance. Events coincided with the one-year mark since the UN Biodiversity COP15 in Montreal, and the historical signing of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and there were high hopes that nature and biodiversity would feature prominently. However, given the scale of the challenge, the world’s nature stewards—especially Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities—have reason to feel the outcomes of COP28 still lack the speed and scale needed to meaningfully tackle the climate crisis.

11 July 2023 / WORDS BY Kirsty Galloway McLean

The success of nature-based solutions will depend on how well we can create the systemic change needed to scale them.   

Imagine if you were to suddenly multiply your own daily responsibilities tenfold. Would you have the infrastructure – mental, physical and temporal – to maintain your current level of efficiency and effectiveness?

This thought experiment forms the crux of the challenge we face in our collective pursuit to address the world’s most pressing environmental challenges and achieve our global sustainable development goals. It is not simply about replication of small-scale successes – just as your personal life would require significant recalibration to accommodate a surge in responsibilities, efforts to scale conservation solutions cannot be limited solely to technological innovations. Rather, our investments and solutions must go beyond incremental growth; they must spark systemic change to ensure a truly sustainable future.

26 May 2023 / WORDS BY Kirsty Galloway McLean

We have already seen how new digital technologies are making a difference in our transition to a nature positive future. They enable more effective data collection, automate time-consuming processes, enhance management decision-making, and support targeted monitoring for agreements and goals. This only reinforces the incredible potential of AI to better support biodiversity protection and buttress industry efforts towards meeting global conservation and sustainable development goals. We know “There is No Planet B” – but perhaps we’re improving our outlook for “Planet A(I)”.

20 December 2022 / WORDS BY Jane Hutchinson and Laura Waterford

Returning from the UN Biodiversity COP 15 in Montreal, Pollination Foundation’s Co-CEO Jane Hutchinson and Pollination Director Laura Waterford share their thoughts on the historic agreement reached at the event.

23 September 2022 / WORDS BY Pollination

In Part 2, we explored the importance of a just and equitable transition, as we move toward a nature positive world.