The Prince of Wales has paid tribute to the Earthshot Prize boss Hannah Jones who has decided “to pass the baton” and stand down.
William said Ms Jones, the outgoing chief executive officer, had built “a world-class organisation” in the environmental initiative.
She will be succeeded this summer after four years by Jason Knauf, the former chief executive officer of the prince’s Royal Foundation.
The future king is the driving force behind the annual environmental competition which staged its last awards ceremony in Cape Town in November, after prize-giving events were held in Singapore 2023, Boston in 2022 and the inaugural event at London’s Alexandra Palace in 2021.
William founded the prize to recognise and scale up ideas to help “repair” the planet, with the five winning finalists each awarded £1 million to further develop their ideas.
He said: “As the first CEO, Hannah has built the prize into a world-class organisation with an incredible team delivering an annual Prize, powering a platform for speeding solutions to scale, and catalysing a movement to encourage young people, spark imaginations and infuse urgent optimism across the world.
“As we look ahead to the future of the prize and the urgent work needed to scale more inspiring solutions to the world’s greatest challenges, I look forward to working with Jason to chart the course for the next five years of The Earthshot Prize and beyond.”
Ms Jones will continue to provide strategic advice on innovation and sustainability to Kensington Palace.
She said: “As I tell all our finalists in our annual Fellowship Retreat, one of the most important jobs of a CEO is to know the right time to step aside.
“After four years, and midway through the Earthshot decade, this is my time to pass the baton.
“It’s been a privilege to help bring the Prince of Wales’s founding vision to life.”
The next Earthshot Prize will be staged in Brazil this autumn.
