IF THE WORLD'S MOST PRESSING PROBLEMS are interrelated, as a panel of UN climate scientists recently reminded us, then the solutions can be too. From sustainable leather that helps boost farmers’ income to repurposed shipping containers that bring digital tools to the developing world, these projects grapple with intractable issues in clever and unexpected ways. The following pages honor 45 category winners and scores of others for devising ways to improve—and protect—our world.
GENERAL EXCELLENCE
1 Basalt rock reacts with rainwater and locks up atmospheric CO2 as bicarbonate.
The rock dust naturally helps regenerate soil, increasing crop yields.