CIPA nominees make up 20% of the Finalists for the Earthshot Prize 2022

CIPA is delighted to announce that it has nominated three of the fifteen Finalists for this year’s Earthshot Prize, the most prestigious global environment initiative in history.

In partnership with Prince William’s Royal Foundation, the Earthshot Prize awards £5m in prize money every year to the winners to help them scale their environmental solutions.

For patented inventions to make up 20 per cent of the Finalists is particularly remarkable when set in the context of the number of nominations worldwide. CIPA, which has headquarters in London, is one of over 345 organisations from across the world invited to submit nominations, with over 1000 solutions put forward this year by the Official Nominators.

CIPA’s nominated Finalists are

• LanzaTech
• Notpla Limited
• Low Carbon Materials

LanzaTech has created a ground-breaking method that uses biology to capture pollution and convert it into sustainable fuels and everyday products. By keeping fossil resources in the ground and removing the need for society to use them, LanzaTech are clearing the sky of toxic air and creating healthy, clean air around the world. LanzaTech has been nominated in the Fix our Climate category.

Notpla Limited has produced a revolutionary solution designed to replace single use plastics and packaging. The material is made from seaweed waste and is 100% home compostable, formulated to break down like a piece of fruit peel. This replacement product could save hundreds of millions of plastic products from polluting our oceans and damaging life underwater. Notpla Limited has been nominated in the Build a Waste-Free World category.

Low Carbon Materials has developed a carbon negative aggregate for use in concrete to help make net-zero construction a reality. The innovative material utilises plastic waste that cannot be recycled and turns the worldwide problem of plastic pollution into a solution. By significantly reducing the volumes of CO2 emissions from entering our atmosphere, Low Carbon Materials could create a global impact sooner. Low Carbon Materials has been nominated in the Fix our Climate category.

These extraordinary solutions demonstrate how patented innovations are addressing the world’s most pressing environmental problems and offering a greener, more hopeful future for the planet.

CIPA President Alasdair Poore said:

“We are proud to be an Official Nominator for this most prestigious of environmental awards and are absolutely delighted to see so many of our nominations selected as Finalists.”

Patents and the utilisation of intellectual property are drivers of innovation and help make a better world for us all.

There are five Earthshots in total, with a £1m Prize awarded to a winner in each of the following categories:

• Protect and restore nature
• Clean our air
• Revive our oceans
• Build a waste-free world
• Fix our climate

Each winner will receive a grant of £1m and investment and mentorship from the Earthshot’s network to scale their impact and roll out their environmental innovations.

The awards ceremony will take place on 2 December 2022 in Boston.

CIPA has also advised the Earthshot organisers on intellectual property issues in both 2021 and 2022. A team of volunteer Chartered Patent Attorneys led by Jerry Bridge Butler, Chair of CIPA’s Media and PR Committee, performed due diligence checks on the Finalists and provided them with any intellectual property advice that they required.

Jerry and Rachel Moriarty, former Head of Prize Design and Impact at Earthshot, also spoke about the prize and CIPA’s involvement on this special episode of the CIPA podcast Two IPs In A Pod.

Date Published: 4 November 2022