NEWS RELEASE
September 13, 2021
Media Contact:
Matt Porter
617-514-1574
press@jfklfoundation.org
www.jfklibrary.org
John F. Kennedy Library Foundation Announces Partnership with The Earthshot Prize
Aimed at Harnessing Spirit of JFK’s Moonshot to Repair the Planet
BOSTON –The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation today announced a new partnership with The Earthshot Prize. Launched in 2020 by Prince William and The Royal Foundation, The Earthshot Prize takes inspiration from President John F. Kennedy’s 1962 speech at Rice University which united millions of people around the goal of reaching the Moon before the end of the decade. The Earthshot Prize aims to channel that same spirit of collective action and optimism to discover, celebrate and scale cutting-edge solutions to the world’s greatest environmental challenges to help repair the planet by 2030.
“Over the past 60 years I have watched each new generation find inspiration in my father's decision to send a man to the moon – not just inspiration for mankind or for America, but for their own lives,” said Ambassador Caroline Kennedy. "It is a great tribute to President Kennedy that The Earthshot Prize has been inspired by his moonshot to take on the most important challenge we face today – repairing the planet. My family and the JFK Library Foundation look forward to partnering with Prince William and The Earthshot Prize on this exciting initiative.”
Jason Knauf, CEO of The Royal Foundation, shared: “Three years ago, Prince William challenged his team at The Royal Foundation to explore ways to harness the optimism and drive of President Kennedy’s moonshot to tackle the greatest challenge of our time – the grave threats to the natural world. As we developed The Earthshot Prize, time and time again we returned to President Kennedy’s words at his 1962 speech at Rice University. His vision for the moonshot as an organising goal for the best of the “energies and skills” of his generation is what we have sought to reinvent for our age. The Earthshot Prize and our five Earthshots will help drive collective innovation and leadership to not just tackle our environmental crisis, but to build a fundamentally better world for all who come after us.
“It is a profound honour to have the partnership of Ambassador Kennedy and the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation on the Earthshot mission. Almost 60 years on from a goal that inspired an unprecedented human endeavour, together we will show that best of our energies and skills can be harnessed to repair our planet in this decisive decade.”
On September 12, 1962, in a landmark speech at Rice University, President Kennedy issued a soaring challenge to the country: to land a man on the Moon within a decade and bring them safely back to Earth. It was vision of human achievement that was then unimaginable. But it wasn’t just a speech. With determination and clarity of purpose, President Kennedy marshaled the resources, talent, and political will to realize that bold vision, and lit the spark that enabled one of the greatest milestones in human history. In July 1969, the Apollo 11 mission successfully landed the first two human beings on the Moon and then safely returned to Earth.
Almost 60 years later, The Earthshot Prize aims to harness the spirit of President Kennedy’s moonshot to inspire global optimism in our ability to repair the planet. The Earthshot Prize is centered around five ‘Earthshot’ goals: Protect and Restore Nature; Clean our Air; Revive our Oceans; Build a Waste-Free World; and Fix our Climate. Every year for the next 10 years, 5 winners, one per Earthshot, with the best solutions to the Earthshot challenges, will be awarded £1 million and supported to scale and help to repair the planet. Over the decisive decade the Prize will award 50 solutions to the world’s greatest environmental problems by 2030. The goal of The Earthshot Prize is for these winning solutions to increase public optimism and confidence in our collective ability to solve the greatest challenges facing the world.
The JFK Library Foundation will join as a Global Alliance Partner of The Earthshot Prize, a group comprising of leading non-profit and international organizations committed to the environment and sustainable development, who will bring expertise, global reach and serve as nominating organizations for the Prize each year.
The first-ever Earthshot Prize Winners will be announced during the awards ceremony on 17th October from London’s Alexandra Palace, broadcast in the UK on BBC One and globally with a major global broadcast partner.
The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation is the non-profit partner and creative collaborator of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, which is administered by the United States National Archives and Records Administration. Over the past forty years, this partnership has produced world class exhibits, the largest, most advanced digital archive created by a presidential library, award-winning educational and digital resources, and public programs that make the Library the largest convener of public dialogues in the Boston area. Grounded in the archival evidence, these activities promote a greater appreciation of America’s political and cultural heritage, help people understand the major challenges facing democracy today, and inspire new generations to engage with the issues at the heart of contemporary life that relate to the legacy of President John F. Kennedy.
About The Earthshot Prize
The Earthshot Prize is the most prestigious environment prize in history, launched in October 2020 by Prince William and The Royal Foundation, and designed to discover and scale the best solutions to repair our planet over the next ten years. A truly global project, The Earthshot Prize was developed by The Royal Foundation, which convened a diverse nominator coalition of more than 200 people and organisations around the world, comprising influential individuals committed to championing positive environmental action. The Prize is backed by The Earthshot Prize Council, a global team of influential individuals, who will be responsible for awarding The Earthshot Prize every year from 2021 until 2030.
The Earthshot Prize is supported by its Global Alliance, an unprecedented network of organisations worldwide which share the ambition of the Prize. Within the Global Alliance include:
- Global Alliance Partners, a group of non-profit environment and sustainable development organisations that bring expertise, global reach and serve as nominating organisations each year. For the full list, see our website: Global Alliance - Earthshot Prize