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Environmentalists criticise choice of Earthshot prize venue owned by fossil fuel firm
The Earthshot Prize will hold its annual awards ceremony at Mumbai’s Jio World Convention Centre, a venue owned by Reliance Industries. Conservationists say the choice risks giving environmental prestige to a conglomerate associated with fossil fuels and a controversial private zoo.
The ceremony is scheduled for 17 November. Reliance owns the world’s largest oil refinery and supports Vantara, a 400-hectare zoo near the refinery that houses more than 150,000 animals across over 2,000 species. Conservation groups have questioned how the animals were sourced; a Cites committee has asked India for a further report and review of 11 cases. Earthshot says it is paying the standard commercial rental rate and chose the venue for its facilities and capacity.
In short
- Earthshot will hold its awards in a Reliance-owned Mumbai venue.
- Conservationists cite Reliance’s oil business and Vantara zoo.
- Earthshot says it is paying the standard commercial rate.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Holding the ceremony at a large, well-equipped venue in Mumbai could make the event accessible and practical while supporting Earthshot’s international reach. If the prize is paying the standard commercial rate, organisers may argue that renting the space does not endorse Reliance’s wider business, and that the awards’ environmental work can retain its own value.
The case against
Earthshot’s choice may confer environmental prestige on Reliance, whose major oil-refining business sits uneasily with the prize’s climate aims. Critics can also argue that the questions raised by conservation groups about animals at Vantara make the venue a reputational risk, and that organisers should consider whether the event’s setting undermines its message.