The Duke of Cambridge has announced that London will host the first awards ceremony for his multimillion pound Earthshot Prize.

The Nobel-style environmental prize will be awarded to those working on the best and most innovative solutions to tackle climate change and repair the planet.

Prince William, who launched the £50m prize last year, said the awards ceremony will celebrate the “inspiring leaders” trying to “solve the world’s greatest environmental challenges”.

The event will be held at Alexandra Palace on the 17 October this year and will feature iconic landmarks from across the capital when it is broadcast on BBC One and around the world.

Kensington Palace said that in the coming months they will announce the world-leading artists set to perform on the night to help celebrate the 15 finalists and the five winners who will each be awarded £1m.

The awards will be judged by the duke and a host of celebrities including Sir David Attenborough, actress Cate Blanchett, singer Shakira and Queen Rania of Jordan.

Announcing London as the first host city, Prince William said: “By hosting COP26 conference in Glasgow just weeks after our inaugural awards, the UK is helping lead the world in tackling climate change.

“London is a fantastic location to showcase this leadership, spotlight the finalists and award our very first Earthshot Prize winners.

“The awards ceremony will be a truly global event, connecting people from all over the world to celebrate these inspiring leaders and their innovations to solve the world’s greatest environmental challenges.”

The name of the prize was inspired by President John F Kennedy’s “Moonshot” speech which kickstarted the American space race.

Every year from 2021 until 2030, the Earthshot Prize will reward those coming up with innovative ideas in five key catagories described as the “Earthshot goals”.

These are: Protect and restore nature; Clean up our air; Revive our oceans; Build a waste-free world; and Fix our climate.

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The finalists, who could be anyone from grassroots initiatives to businesses to governments, will be announced in July.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Hosting the very first Earthshot Prize ceremony is a momentous occasion for London… The Earthshot Prize: London 2021 is an unprecedented opportunity to inspire all Londoners and people around the world to be part of this global effort to repair our planet.”

From Saturday the capital will mark London Climate Action Week, hosting the largest independent climate festival in Europe.

Sky News has launched the first daily prime time news show dedicated to climate change.

The Daily Climate Show is broadcast at 6.30pm and 9.30pm Monday to Friday on Sky News, the Sky News website and app, on YouTube and Twitter.

Hosted by Anna Jones, it follows Sky News correspondents as they investigate how global warming is changing our landscape and how we all live our lives.

The show also highlights solutions to the crisis and how small changes can make a big difference.

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