Earthshot Prize finalist lights up life as Prince William’s ‘dating service’ for climate innovators seeks solutions

Entrance, South Africa — Power supply is something most of us take for granted, but hundreds of millions of people in parts of Africa live without reliable access to electricity. One American company is working to change that, and its innovation is in the running for this year’s annual Earthshot Prize, an award given by Britain’s Prince William to highlight solutions to the climate crisis.

Like most 12-year-olds, Dimakatso Ngcobo is not a fan of household chores. She didn’t hesitate to tell CBS News as she cleaned out an old pot, a few plastic plates and two old peanut butter jars that she and her mother use as cups.

Last year his mother couldn’t pay the rent on their house in Soweto, outside Johannesburg, so they were evicted. The mother and daughter walked to the community of Kokotela, a few kilometers further south, to buy a small plot of land for $200. There they built a new one-room tin house.

Ngcobo told CBS News that although there was no running water or toilets, what he missed most was electricity.

“It’s a bit hard. We don’t have much. We don’t have a lot of means,” she said, adding on a more positive note: “At least the school nearby is OK, because I want to become a doctor one day.

She was also grateful that her world had become a little brighter recently, thanks to the American company d.light, created by two co-founders who met at Stanford University’s design school. The company has now connected more than 180 million people in 70 countries to a clean energy source from solar power.

“We strive to make these products as affordable as possible, and we do this through pay-as-you-go financing, where customers can pay 20 cents a day or 30 cents a day, similar to what they would spend on kerosene or in diesel for the diesel generator,” said Nedjip Tozun, co-founder of d.light “But instead of literally wasting that money, they can invest it in an asset that they will own that will provide electricity. for many years.”

D.light is one of 15 finalists competing for an Earthshot Prize 2024. Winners will be chosen on Wednesday in five categories: protecting and restoring nature, purifying our air, reviving our oceans, building a world without waste and repairing our climate. The winner of each category will receive £1 million, or approximately $1.3 million, to help develop their respective projects.

William, Prince of Wales and future British monarchsaid he was inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s 1962 “Moonshot” challenge to land a man on the moon within 10 years when he created the Earthshot Price four years ago with the ambition to find and promote innovative global climate solutions. The ambitious goal of the Earthshot initiative since its launch has been to repair the planet within 10 years.

The Earthshot Awards ceremony took place on the African continent for the first time this year, and Cape Town, South Africa is hosting it.

Delegates to the Earthshot Awards in Cape Town told CBS News ahead of Tuesday’s US ceremony. national election that they were disappointed climate change hasn’t emerged as a central theme in the presidential race, and they fear it will recede even further from the American political debate.

New Yorker Shantha Bloemen, CEO of Mobility for Africa, a startup that provides green mobility services to rural women in Africa using custom-made electric tricycles and custom-made solar batteries, has been nominated for an award this year, but did not get the award. list of finalists. She said she still hoped to find partners in Cape Town this week to help her expand her company’s operations.

“We need urgent action and strong political leadership to unlock the funding needed to fight this crisis,” she told CBS News. “Many of us have proven solutions to mitigate the worst impacts on those on the front lines of the crisis, but without strong U.S. political leadership, it will be difficult to unlock the funding needed to scale quickly and succeed. on our side.”

Prince William acknowledged the networking aspect of the prize initiative on Tuesday at an event in Cape Town. Panel moderator Wanjira Mathia teased the British king as he took part in a panel discussion, calling the prize “a great dating service to bring climate innovators together.”

“Price is a question of visibility, but also a question of scale,” he said. “What we often hear from innovators is, ‘I have a solution but I don’t know how to scale it,’ and businesses and leaders say, ‘I have solution. ‘money but I don’t know where to put it’. So that’s where we created a launchpad, which is a dating service that matches the funder with the solution, and vice versa. And I think that collaboration is the key: if you put all of that in one crucible, then sparks will fly. “

“It’s wonderful to see so many brilliant minds and changemakers in one room,” he said, addressing the audience.

Back in Kokotela, south of Johannesburg, Muriel Nobela can now power her television, radio and lights thanks to a d.light solar panel installed on her roof. The panel powers an outdoor light and a storage battery inside her home, and it all costs her a little more than $250, which she repays in small monthly payments.

Her neighbor Portia Msomi has always had to rely on gas for cooking and candles for light in the evening. Now it’s just a matter of flipping a switch.

“Aha! » Portia said with a laugh as she flipped her new d.light switch to light up her house. “You see, isn’t it wonderful!”

Tozun told CBS News that it’s this kind of reaction that drives d.light’s work.

“Our company name is d.light, and that’s the emotion that makes us really excited to see in our customers,” he said, adding: “There are 2 billion people in the world who do not have reliable access to electricity, and around 750 million people have no access to electricity at all, our goal is to transform the lives of a billion people by 2030.”

Portia is very proud of her new solar system. With great effort, she climbed onto a large trunk to reach across its metal roof to grab her solar panel and clean it thoroughly. She told CBS News it only took her four months to pay the $150 fee for the system.

She pointed out several nearby houses that had burned down in accidents involving paraffin and candle fires.

“We are safe now and have light all the time,” she said.

Light and safety are also important to young Dimakatso Ngcobo, but the 12-year-old told CBS News that being connected is one of the biggest benefits of having clean energy in her home. She can now indulge in her favorite activity: scrolling on TikTok and Instagram.

“And I love television,” she added. “I really like cartoons.”

His infectious laugh also helped light up the room.

“I feel happy now,” she said. “We don’t have much, but I can watch TikTok and dream about my future.”