The Earthshot Prize has announced its 2026 finalists ahead of its Awards Night in Mumbai on 17 November.
The Earthshot Prize, founded by Prince William in 2020, recognises projects around the world dedicated to solving environmental challenges.
Recognised in the Build a Waste-Free World Earthshot category for its community-run Zero Waste Solutions, Mother Earth Foundation (MEF) helps Philippine cities and island communities prevent plastic and organic waste from reaching landfills, waterways and the ocean.
Beginning in 1998, five women, including current Chairman Sonia Mendoza, organised their neighbours to separate waste, compost organics and turn an empty lot into a community garden.
MEF works with local governments, barangays, households and waste workers across the Philippines to build practical systems that prevent waste from escaping in the first place.
Households separate biodegradable, recyclable and residual waste at source, community-run materials recovery facilities collect and sort it, organics are composted, and local data is used to identify which products cannot be recovered and must be redesigned or phased out.
Through education, monitoring and policy support, MEF aim to help make these practices part of daily life rather than a short-term project.
In the City Government of San Fernando, Pampanga, a programme co-developed with the city has achieved up to 89% city-level waste diversion and has continued through successive changes in political leadership.
By 2030, MEF aims to help establish the Philippines as the first developing country where Zero Waste is the default model for solid waste management, and a model for replication across Southeast Asia.
Its goal is for over 90% of Philippine cities and municipalities to be implementing or have access to zero waste systems.
Also recognised in the Build a Waste-Free World Earthshot category are PFAS-Free France and South Korea Zero Waste Movement Network.
PFAS-Free France is recognised for leading the coalition that won the world’s first national law banning PFAS ‘forever chemicals’.
South Korea Zero Waste Movement Network has worked for over thirty years on project to cut waste and increase the country’s recycling rate from 2% in 1995 to 95% today.
Commenting on the finalists, Prince William, President and Founder of The Earthshot Prize, said: “Every year, our finalists give me renewed optimism.”
“They show us that, even as the environmental challenges remain urgent, extraordinary people around the world are already proving that progress is possible.”
“Seeing solutions work gives us all confidence to act. When they succeed, they inspire others and accelerate change.”
As a 2026 Finalist, The Earthshot Prize will work with MEF to secure access to flexible, multi-year funding and climate finance, funders and implementation partners, and support the development of a Zero Waste Hub to consolidate training and community enterprise.
This year’s 15 finalists were selected from The Earthshot Prize’s database of around 7,000 nominations across 169 countries.
The finalists fall into one of the five Earthshots: Protect and Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build a Waste-Free World and Fix Our Climate.
Each finalist will be considered by Prince William and fellow members of The Earthshot Prize Council, with five winners announced at the 2026 Awards Night in Mumbai, India, on 17 November.
The Prize Council includes Prince William; Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah; Cate Blanchett; Indra Nooyi; José Andrés; Christiana Figueres; Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim; Wanjira Mathai; Nemonte Nenquimo; Gisele Bündchen; Luisa Neubauer; Naoko Yamazaki; Ernest Gibson; and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.