Every year, tens of billions of dollars are spent by universities, research institutes and private companies to develop solutions for climate change. Yet when a government decides to fund research for a piece of technology or branch of science, it rarely makes news.
In recent years, high-profile climate solutions prizes have started to buck that trend. These prizes are often awarded to innovators or researchers who are proposing solutions to the many problems facing the planet. Compared to traditional funding pathways, the amounts are relatively small – in the thousands or sometimes millions of dollars – and they are often backed by billionaires and celebrities.
