Hannah Ritchie won the £10,000 (about $13,480) Unwin Award, which recognizes nonfiction writers "in the earlier stages of their careers as authors, whose work is considered to have made a significant contribution to the world." Supported by the Unwin Charitable Trust and administered by the Publishers Association, the prize "is intended to champion and showcase the value of the U.K. publishing industry to the world, and rewards an author for their overall body of work."
Ritchie is the author of two works of nonfiction: Not the End of the World (2024) and Clearing the Air (2025). The judges praised Not the End of the World as "a well-written and revealing book and for its optimistic and data-grounded approach which gives readers hope for the future of the planet. The panel recognized Hannah's masterful handling of this ambitious subject matter and praised how she drilled into it using data and science. They believe this book will continue to have a huge impact on readers long after publication, along with her second non-fiction book, Clearing the Air, which is also about climate change. Hannah has kindly decided to donate the prize money to the Against Malaria Foundation."
Chair of judges Claudia Hammond said Ritchie's "meticulous marshalling of the evidence shows that there has been more progress than we might think and that there is hope. And hope is something we all need at the moment."