The Frontiers Planet Prize has announced 19 National Champions from science research teams across five continents – exceptional scientists with breakthrough solutions that can be scaled up to keep humanity safely within planetary boundaries. As the world’s largest science competition to enhance planetary health and mobilize the academic community, the prize fast-tracks innovation, impact and emphasizes the urgency of action required.
The National Champions have been selected by 100 independent experts – the Jury of 100 – renowned sustainability and planetary health leaders, chaired by Professor Johan Rockström. The National Champions will now move forward to the final round of the competition, with three International Champions unveiled in June and awarded 1 million USD each to scale up their research.
The 19 National Champions represent a diverse group of researchers at various stages of their academic careers, who have published groundbreaking articles that put forward unique, transformative solutions to stop humanity crossing the planetary boundaries.
With no time to waste in the current climate crisis, their research focuses on a range of areas including climate change mitigation, community health, and planetary resilience, through which they offer solutions such as optimized carbon capture technologies, enhanced modeling and early-detection systems, and sustainable policy frameworks. All with the aim to mobilize and inspire individuals to actively contribute towards overcoming current planetary health challenges.
Led by Professor Johan Rockström, the planetary boundaries framework presents a set of nine limits within which humanity can continue to develop and thrive for generations to come. Crossing these boundaries increases the risk of generating large-scale abrupt or irreversible environmental changes. With no place to hide in the planetary crisis, the scientific innovations needed are crucial for our collective responsibility for healthy lives on a healthy planet.
Professor Jean-Claude Burgelman, Director of the Frontiers Planet Prize said: “Faced with immense threats to people and planet, we need bold, transformative solutions, rooted in evidence and validated by science. Innovative yet scalable solutions are the only way for us to ensure healthy lives on a healthy planet. By spotlighting the most groundbreaking research, we are helping scientists bring their work to the international stage and provide the scientific consensus needed to guide our actions and policies.”
A direct response to the urgent need for faster global scientific consensus, the prize has already engaged with more than 10,000 active researchers, 23 academies of science, and over 600 leading universities and research institutions from 62 countries, to bring forward transformational and globally scalable research from around the world, with a focus on enabling healthy lives on a healthy planet.
You can find the full list of the 2025 National Champions here.
Article Source:
Press Release/Material by Frontiers
Featured image credit: jcomp | Freepik
