International Blue Planet Prize goes to Scottish Rewilding founder

Dr Jeremy Leggett, Founder and CEO of Highlands Rewilding, 2025 Blue Planet Prize winner.

The coveted Blue Planet Prize, granting $500k USD to the outstanding individuals or organisations whose work contributes significantly to the improvement of the global environment, was granted this year to Dr Jeremy Leggett, founder of Highlands Rewilding and previously, SolarCentury, what became the UK’s largest solar company. See Jeremy’s video comments about receiving the prize.

Jeremy Leggett, CEO of Highlands Rewilding, has won the award for his work over the years on carbon, solar and most recently nature. He will be injecting all the prize money into Highlands Rewilding and the organisation’s ongoing efforts to help scale nature recovery to the extent needed if global biodiversity collapse is to be reversed. His work in Scotland through Highlands Rewilding combines ecological restoration with social equity, aiming to regenerate landscapes while creating shared prosperity for local communities.

Leggett is no stranger to the frontline of climate action — both in the boardroom and on the ground. As the first chairman of the Carbon Tracker Initiative, he played a key role in putting the “carbon bubble” theory on the map. This now-famous concept warns that investments in fossil fuels are not only environmentally dangerous but financially unsound.

By equipping investors and policymakers with critical data and insights, Carbon Tracker helped ignite the global divestment movement, prompting major funds to reconsider their stake in a carbon-intensive future.

However, Leggett didn’t stop at theory. He helped launch one of the UK’s foremost solar energy firms, SolarCentury, bridging the gap between climate science and commercial innovation.

The official Award Ceremony will take place on Wednesday, 29 October 2025, at Tokyo Kaikan. Commemorative lectures are set for 30 October at the University of Tokyo, followed by another session on 1 November at Kyoto International Community House.

These events will not only honour the winners but also provide a platform for deeper engagement with the global community on the issues that matter most: climate, conservation, and the collective journey toward sustainability.

Past winners of the Blue Planet Prize have included Jim Hansen, Gro Harlem Brundtland, and James Lovelock.