Earthshot Prize funders, DP World and Edelman Cannes award
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
- Press and investigations DeSmog: Of 20 environment-themed winning campaigns from 2020 to 2025, at least 8 used impact figures that could not be verified; the jury does not see declared impact data.
- Communities and civil society Greenpeace: Said at least 300 Cannes awards have gone to air-travel and oil advertising since the Paris Agreement.
- Company or project Edelman: Announced the Titanium Lion win for DP World's campaign. Edelman
DP World is a founding funder of the Earthshot Prize and the client of a campaign that won a Titanium Lion at Cannes in June 2024. The agency, Edelman, is estimated to earn part of its revenue from fossil-fuel clients.
DeSmog review, June 2026.
Status As of June 2026: Charity Commission assessing Republic's February 2026 complaint; no finding announced.
What happened
Prince William and the Royal Foundation launched the Earthshot Prize in 2020, a ten-year programme that awards five prizes a year. Its founding funders include Amazon, the Bezos Earth Fund, the port operator DP World, Standard Chartered, Temasek Trust and Uber; the Earthshot Prize website lists 24 founding funders. Its "Global Alliance" includes Deloitte, British Airways, Unilever and Walmart, and the shipping company Berge Bulk is an "Impact Partner".
DP World gave at least £1 million in 2022. On 11 February 2026 the group Republic filed a complaint with the Charity Commission for England and Wales after documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein named DP World's chairman. The Commission said it was assessing the complaint and has announced no finding.
In June 2024 the agency Edelman won a Titanium Lion at Cannes Lions for "The Move to -15", a DP World campaign proposing that frozen cargo be carried at -15 degrees instead of -18. The campaign claimed energy savings of 5 to 7 percent and 17.7 million tonnes of CO2 a year. Edelman's announcement page returned an HTTP 403 error when checked, and these figures come.
Clean Creatives, which campaigns against agencies that work for fossil-fuel clients, estimated that 5.64 percent of Edelman's revenue came from such clients and listed 10 Edelman contracts on its 2025 list. In 2025 Earthshot gave the communications for its Rio ceremony to LLYC Brasil, the crisis-communications agency of Petrobras; the two contracts overlapped for at least four months. Earthshot said it partners only with organisations that have strict sustainability commitments.
- 2020Earthshot Prize launched by Prince William and the Royal Foundation as a ten-year programme
- 2022DP World donates at least £1 million
- 2024Edelman wins Titanium Lion at Cannes Lions for DP World's "The Move to -15" (June)
- 2025Earthshot gives Rio ceremony communications to LLYC Brasil; Clean Creatives lists 10 Edelman fossil-fuel contracts
- 2026Republic complaint to the Charity Commission (11 February); DeSmog review of Cannes impact claims (June)
What was said
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
Filed a complaint with the Charity Commission after the name of DP World's chairman appeared in Epstein documents.
Said it was assessing the complaint; no finding announced.
No response on record in the sources reviewed.
Of 20 environment-themed winning campaigns from 2020 to 2025, at least 8 used impact figures that could not be verified; the jury does not see declared impact data.
Said at least 300 Cannes awards have gone to air-travel and oil advertising since the Paris Agreement.
Said it partners only with organisations that have strict sustainability commitments.
Estimated that 5.64 percent of Edelman's revenue came from fossil-fuel clients; LLYC Brasil, used for the 2025 ceremony, was Petrobras's crisis-communications agency.
How it looked
Shown
- "The Move to -15": carrying frozen cargo at -15 degrees instead of -18, with claimed energy savings of 5 to 7 percent and 17.7 million tonnes of CO2 a year.DP World and Edelman (campaign claim; figures) · Edelman
Recorded
- DP World donated at least £1 million to Earthshot in 2022.
- Earthshot's 2025 Rio ceremony communications went to LLYC Brasil, which held a Petrobras contract from 2019 to 29 July 2025; the two contracts overlapped for at least four months.
- Edelman won a Titanium Lion at Cannes in June 2024 for DP World's campaign.
- Edelman was awarded the COP30 contract (USD 835,000 in the record) in 2024 to 2025 and, in the same period, arranged meetings with the summit secretariat for Vibra.
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
Responses on record
- The Earthshot Prize (2025): Said it partners only with organisations that have strict sustainability commitments (paraphrased).
- Charity Commission for England and Wales (February 2026): Said it was assessing the complaint; announced no finding.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
- 2026-02-11–OngoingComplaint to the Charity Commission about the DP World donation to EarthshotCharity Commission for England and Wales · Regulatory · Republic → The Earthshot Prize (complaint concerns the DP World donation)
The Commission said it was assessing the complaint and announced no finding.
Insurers
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
- Disputed Do Cannes environment awards reflect verified impact?
Figures
- Insufficient Programme size: Programme figure from a partly search-summary source.
- Insufficient Co2 saving claimed: Campaign claim; Edelman's page returned HTTP 403.
Accounts
- Disputed Is the Earthshot Prize funded by a person linked to Jeffrey Epstein?
- Disputed Do Earthshot's partners fit its stated criteria?
- None on record DP World: No response on record in the sources reviewed.
Record
- None on record The Charity Commission's assessment of the Earthshot complaint: no finding announced.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the campaign's 5 to 7 percent energy saving and 17.7 million tonnes of CO2 a year.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a claim that Edelman won the award a month after taking a Shell account; the only source found is a weak events page.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the GBP 50 million size of the Earthshot programme (Royal Foundation page, partly via secondary reports).
Did the harm stop?
Not applicable in the sources reviewed: no ecological outcome is recorded for this case.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Company or project
- Our partnersThe Earthshot Prize · 2026
- Prince William and the Royal Foundation launch Earthshot PrizeRoyal Foundation · 2020
Connected cases
- Edelman: API contract, Energy Citizens and the COP30 contract United States · 2005–2026 Related matter
- DP World (Company) — here: Founding funder; client of the award-winning campaign; there: Client of the Cannes-winning campaign; Earthshot funder
- Edelman (Company) — here: Agency that made the campaign; there: Public relations firm; API contractor 2005–2016; COP30 communications contract
- Clean Creatives (NGO) — here: Campaign group listing agencies' fossil-fuel contracts; there: Campaign counting agency contracts with fossil-fuel clients
- Costa Rica payments for ecosystem services and forest recovery Costa Rica · 1997
- Earthshot Prize (NGO) — here: Prize programme; there: Awarded GBP 1 million in 2021
- Hill & Knowlton and Edelman: PR for fossil fuel clients and climate summits Egypt · 2005–2025
- Edelman (Company) — here: Agency that made the campaign; there: PR firm with American Petroleum Institute and COP30 contracts