Move faster to solve climate challenges, Prince William says

The finalists also include a range of community-led initiatives tackling environmental challenges such as waste reduction, nature restoration, and clean energy.

They include Indigenous ranger teams in Australia and an Argentinian artificial intelligence-powered wildfire detection and alert platform.

Two finalists are from India, which will host this year's Earthshot Prize awards ceremony in Mumbai.

They are Mahindra Last Mile Mobility, a leading manufacturer of electric three-wheelers, and the Mahila Housing Trust, a grassroots organisation pioneering climate resilience initiatives for low-income women.

The finalists were selected from nearly 7,000 nominations submitted across 169 countries.

Five winners, one from each of the five Earthshot categories - protect and restore nature, revive our oceans, clean our air, build a waste-free world and fix our climate - will be announced at the ceremony in November.

Each will receive a £1m prize to help expand their project.

The Earthshot Prize Council, which selects the winners, includes Prince William, alongside Queen Rania al-Abdullah of Jordan, actress Cate Blanchett, and chef José Andrés.

"The solutions are here. The challenge now is scale," Prince William told the BBC.

"The progress is real. Now we need to accelerate it. That's exactly why The Earthshot Prize exists."