On October 5, 2025, the Earthshot Prize Council in London, UK, announced that the "Guangzhou Public Transport Electrification" project, led by Guangzhou Public Transport Group Co., Ltd., has successfully made it to the finals of the 2025 Earthshot Prize in the "Clean Our Air" category. This is the second major international recognition for Guangzhou's efforts in advancing and promoting public transport electrification, following its 2019 "Green Technology Award" at the C40 World Cities Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The Earthshot Prize, launched by His Royal Highness Prince William in 2020, is the world's most prestigious and influential environmental awards. Held annually, the prize recognizes groundbreaking projects and solutions that contribute significantly to addressing climate change and protecting the planet's environment. The awards aim to honor the highest standards and most forward-thinking solutions in global environmental governance. This year, nearly 2,500 projects from 72 countries and regions competed for the prize, with the "Guangzhou Public Transport Electrification" project, along with other notable initiatives from across the globe, making it to the final selection. The awards ceremony will take place on November 5 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where the top five winners will be chosen.

As a national central city and core engine of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Guangzhou faces challenges with high economic output and dense population, which once made vehicle emissions a significant source of urban air pollution. Since 2017, under the leadership of the municipal Party Committee and local government, Guangzhou Public Transport Group has actively responded to the national "dual carbon" strategy. The company has led the charge in the innovative green transportation transformation of this mega city, spearheading the "Guangzhou Public Transport Electrification" project and launching a comprehensive initiative to electrify the city's public transport fleet. Through innovations in mechanisms, technology leadership, and infrastructure development, the project has built a full-chain green public transport system that includes "vehicle electrification, clean energy, intelligent operations, and battery recycling."

As of now, Guangzhou Public Transport Group operates 12,000 pure electric buses, nearly 10,000 electric taxis, and four new-energy tourist boats. Additionally, 400 charging stations and around 8,000 charging piles have been built, along with the development of three integrated low-carbon industrial parks in Shima, Yanling, and Shixi to enhance clean energy usage and power grid regulation capacity. Notably, the "Guangzhou Public Transport Electrification" project has innovatively created a "retired battery—cascade utilization—resource regeneration" circular model. It has established China's first "Battery Hospital" demonstration base, successfully extending battery life, reducing total lifecycle costs, and plans to build a 15,000-ton-per-year cascade utilization production line. This line will enable the large-scale reuse of retired batteries in areas such as photovoltaic energy storage and low-speed electric vehicles. The group aims to promote the global recycling of used batteries, contributing to environmental quality improvement and resource consumption reduction, and providing the "Guangzhou Solution" to tackle battery pollution and resource waste in global transport energy systems.

Over the past eight years, this project has reduced carbon emissions by nearly 1 million tons, decreased Guangzhou's PM2.5 concentration by 40%, and reduced public transport energy consumption by 50%. These efforts have significantly improved the city's air quality and the quality of life for residents, while also providing solid local practices for China’s "dual carbon" goals.

A spokesperson from Guangzhou Public Transport Group said the project goes beyond simple vehicle electrification. Its uniqueness lies in its high system integration, the fusion of industry ecosystems, management of the full lifecycle value chain of public transport batteries, and the replicability of its electrification experience in large cities. Being shortlisted for the Earthshot Prize is an international recognition of Guangzhou's success in green transportation transformation, made possible by the ongoing guidance, support, and policies from the municipal Party Committee, government, and relevant authorities. Going forward, the group will continue to deepen vehicle electrification, enhance grid interaction, and promote digital management, while sharing these technologies and management models with cities both at home and abroad, jointly advancing global public transport’s green and low-carbon transformation.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement. In his video speech at the UN Climate Change Summit, President Xi Jinping called on all parties to actively take action and work towards a harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature, protecting our shared Earth. Looking ahead, Guangzhou Public Transport Group will continue to respond to the national "dual carbon" strategy, implement green development principles, and push forward the green and low-carbon transformation of the transportation sector. The group aims to help Guangzhou become a model city for harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, providing a replicable and scalable practical example for the green transformation of global mega-cities.