The Earthshot prize, Prince William's flagship environmental award, will host its November ceremony at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai — a venue owned by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, the conglomerate that also operates the world's largest oil refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat. The prize awards £1m to each of five annual winners for conservation work. The choice of venue has drawn sharp criticism from conservation groups who see it as reputation-laundering for a fossil fuel empire. The Ambani connection runs deeper than real estate. Reliance's philanthropic arm funds Vantara, a 400-hectare private zoo founded by Mukesh's son Anant Ambani and inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The facility houses more than 150,000 animals across 2,000-plus species, including some of the world's most endangered — radiated tortoises from Madagascar, Spix's macaws now extinct in the wild. The sheer speed of accumulation has alarmed conservation groups internationally. This week, the 32-member committee governing CITES — the UN body regulating trade in endangered species — requested India submit a further report on its handling of protected species imports. The committee also asked the CITES secretariat to review 11 unresolved cases involving animal transfers to Vantara. A previous CITES fact-finding mission raised concerns about India's compliance with international animal import rules in 2025, though a recommendation for temporary trade restrictions was later withdrawn. Last year, India's Supreme Court cleared Vantara of allegations of illegal acquisition or mistreatment. The reputational mechanics are straightforward. Megan Carr of the Wildlife Animal Protection Forum South Africa warned that using a Reliance-owned venue "could lend an unearned environmental prestige to a corporate group currently under question by the global conservation community." Susan Cheyne, vice-chair of the IUCN's small apes section, said Vantara's model "has not yet been shown to support conservation and may be driving demand for wild animals in trade." Daniela Freyer of Pro Wildlife noted the prize "should be careful not to lend its reputation to these questions." Vantara has also attempted to lobby the UK — which chairs CITES proceedings — to take a more sympathetic view of India's import practices, according to reporting by the Guardian and Mongabay. Internal documents revealed that UK ministers were advised not to engage formally with Vantara. The zoo describes itself as a "modern Noah's Ark" focused on rescue, treatment, and breeding of endangered species for eventual reintroduction. The Earthshot prize says it is paying standard commercial rates for the venue and has not sought a philanthropic partnership with the Ambanis. Executive director of communications Joanna Swift cited Mumbai's status as the sixth-largest city on Earth, the venue's world-class facilities, and the need to spotlight Indian environmental solutions. She noted the venue hosted Mumbai's first Climate Week in February. The structural tension is undeniable. A prize built on environmental credibility has chosen to rent that credibility's stage from a company whose core business is fossil fuel extraction — while the company's zoo faces live international regulatory scrutiny over endangered species acquisition. Whether this is pragmatic venue selection or reputational arbitrage depends entirely on whether you believe prestige can be partitioned from the entity that owns the room.
