The Duke of Cambridge’s Earthshot Prize will this year be held in Boston in honour of President John F Kennedy’s Moon Shot challenge, Kensington Palace has announced.
The annual ceremony will take place in early December and raises the prospect that both the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge may undertake a short tour in the US.
The inaugural Earthshot Prize award ceremony took place last October in London.
The Duke set up the environmental initiative, which will award £50 million in prizes over ten years, to find solutions to repair and protect the planet.
The five 2021 winners were each awarded £1 million to support their projects, which included schemes to restore coral reefs, redistribute unwanted food to the disadvantaged in Milan and battle air pollution in India.
The award’s name is inspired by President Kennedy’s concept of moonshots, which, since the American mission to put a man on the moon, has become shorthand for ambitious and ground-breaking goals.
It is hoped that the Earthshot Prize will stimulate technological breakthroughs just as Kennedy’s Moon Shot proposal in the 1960s led to the development of new technology such as the MRI scanner, satellite dishes, smoke detectors and advanced water filters.
Kennedy was born just outside Boston and represented a working-class district of the city in the House of Representatives before becoming a senator for Massachusetts.
The announcement that Boston will be the Earthshot ceremony’s second host city came on the anniversary of the moon landing.
Caroline Kennedy, Kennedy’s daughter, and a US ambassador to Australia, said: “There is no more important moonshot today than repairing the planet and no better place to harness the Moon Shot spirit than the city of Boston.
“It is a great tribute to President Kennedy that the Earthshot Prize will partner with the JFK Library Foundation to host the 2022 ceremony in Boston and inspire a new generation with the possibility of a sustainable future.”
The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation will serve as host partner of the Earthshot ceremony alongside Mayor Michelle Wu and the City of Boston.
Kensington Palace said that 60 years after Kennedy issued his soaring Moon Shot challenge to the nation - to land a man on the moon within a decade - “that spirit of innovation, entrepreneurship and service” continues in Boston and was the inspiration for the selection of Boston as this year’s host city.
Mayor Wu said: “In Boston, we’re not just aiming to improve Boston’s ability to tackle climate change - we’re setting an example for how imaginative, community-driven climate leadership can reshape what’s possible.
“We are honoured and excited that Boston has been selected to host the 2022 Earthshot Awards.
“This is an opportunity to shine a global spotlight on our efforts to combat climate change and demonstrate that, together, we can meet the urgency this moment demands with innovative solutions that protect our planet and future generations.”