 Hi everyone, my name is Marcus Ekstavor, I'm VP of Energy and Climate at XPRIZE. Now here we are at COP26, focusing the world's attention and energy on climate change. And I don't have to tell you that COP is always full of hope, anxiety, frustration, the negotiations, and of course the positive commitments to action. This year is no different, but two things are still obviously missing. One, a positive and uniting vision, and two, a focus on actual solutions. It's time for us to move beyond talking about what we need to do, and actually get to work doing it. That's what we expect from today's senior leaders, but somehow, isn't it funny, it seems that no one's more ready to do the work and take action than today's youth. Tomorrow's leaders. On behalf of XPRIZE, I'm so excited to introduce you to a group of young people who are working on carbon removal solutions that can really help us rebalance Earth's carbon cycle. But first, a few words about what carbon removal is and why it matters. Now, our focus at COP26, of course, is on reducing greenhouse gas emissions as quickly and as aggressively as possible. And doing it without making life harder for the world's most vulnerable communities. That's the way it should be. And we all know there's a lot of work to do to transition away from fossil fuels and to reduce those emissions, but here's the catch. Reducing emissions alone is not enough. Even if we zero out all of our current emissions, it still won't be enough to keep global warming below one and a half degrees this century. The climate math is showing us we also need to remove CO2 emissions from the past that are still lingering in the atmosphere and the oceans. It's a relatively new idea, but we're starting to realize it's a need to have, not just a nice to have. Now, the good news is there are so many ways to do carbon removal, from planting trees to regenerative agriculture practices, work in the oceans, or even technologies like direct air capture. The problem is most of these techniques have barely been attempted at any meaningful scale, with just a few exceptions. That's why we launched XPRIZE Carbon Removal with support from the Musk Foundation. This is a global $100 million incentive prize competition to create a step change in action for carbon removal. Anyone in the world can participate by demonstrating a working carbon removal solution at a modest scale by the year 2025. That's when we're going to declare the $50 million grand prize winner. We're already seeing interest from around the world, and the competition, remember, is open to any solution, no matter what type it is, and no matter how advanced or nascent it might be today. The private sector is also really getting involved and starting to lead. Microsoft and Stripe, for instance, are running their own purchasing programs to directly support the demand and supply of carbon removals. And this is just the beginning. But what does this have to do with young people in action? Well, the first part of XPRIZE Carbon Removal is just for students. We dedicated $5 million from the award pool to student-led proposals and teams anywhere in the world. We received hundreds of proposals from 44 countries, all written by young people who are planning to develop solutions to help lead us out of this climate crisis. Today, we are thrilled to announce 23 teams representing eight different countries have won up to $250,000 each to pursue their carbon removal solutions over the coming years. Congratulations on behalf of XPRIZE to each and every one of the winners of these student awards. We're cheering you on, and we're here to support you in your journey. Let me also say I want to give my respect and appreciation to every team that submitted proposals. This is just one step in your journey, and we wish you nothing but the best. You know, we talk so much in the abstract when it comes to climate change. But I really see these young people in their work as tangible examples of action put into practice. They deserve our attention, our collaboration, and our support. Visit our website XPRIZE.org to meet these students, get to know their work, maybe even get involved in their projects, tell your families and tell your friends all about them. It's not enough to say that our youth are tomorrow's leaders. We have to show it, and we show it by supporting this next generation, providing them opportunities to succeed and to fail, and to provide opportunities to grow, mature, and to lead. If there's one thing I know for sure about climate change, it's that it's going to take both immediate action, but also persistence and dedication over time to create that more sustainable future that we all want. Empowering our young people to focus on tangible practical solutions is what XPRIZE Carbon Removal Student Awards are all about. Congratulations again, and thank you.