Jubilee Post News & Views
Dr. Seema Javed
UNEP seeks seven young people implementing ground-breaking ideas and solutions that showcase nature’s potential in addressing the triple planetary crisis climate change, biodiversity and nature loss, and pollution.
UNEP Young Champions of the Earth
Young Champions of the Earth is the flagship youth engagement initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The award is bestowed annually to ambitious young people from around the world with outstanding ideas to protect and restore the environment.
The prize designed to breathe life into the ambitions of young environmentalists. The award is bestowed annually o seven ambitious young people from around the world with outstanding ideas to protect and restore the environment. (adding brochure)
The Young Champions will receive public recognition, seed funding, training, mentorship, and access to global change-makers.
Nominations are open till 5 April 2024.
This year, UNEP seeks seven young people – aged between 18 and 30 – who exemplify commitment to the environment and are leading projects that protect and revive nature to fight climate change, restore ecosystem functionality, and address pollution.
UNEP’s selected Young Champions will receive US$20,000 in seed funding, a chance to attend high-level UN meetings, access to a community of global experts, and intensive training and tailored mentoring to bring their big environmental ideas to life. UNEP is looking for young entrepreneurs, scientists, economists, artists, and communicators from all walks of life who have big, bold ideas – for the environment, for humanity, and for a greener future. To demonstrate the project’s dedication and feasibility, prospective candidates must have actively pursued their ideas for a minimum of six months.
“Outstanding young entrepreneurs, scholars, creators, and activists need our backing to put the planet on track for recovery,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. “UNEP is in search of the most innovative minds of this generation, from all disciplines and every region in the world, who are actively recalibrating our relationship with nature.”
Past winners of UNEP’s Young Champions of the Earth award include Adjany Costa, who developed a model for communities in one of the last wildlife hubs in eastern Angola, Lefteris Arapakis, from Greece, who trains, empowers and incentivizes old and new fishermen in the Mediterranean to collect plastic from the sea, and Eritai Kateibwi, whose Te Maeu Project focuses on developing a low-impact hydroponics growing system to bring fresh crops to Kiribati.
“To meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change, much of the world must leapfrog to new technological and nature-based solutions, and such a bold, systemic shift calls for the entrepreneurialism and energy that emerging entrepreneurs bring to the table,” said Chris Kemper. “I believe that entrepreneurs embody the drive, energy and passion needed to make the necessary and positive changes in today’s world. I’m excited to see the impact that the new Champions create.”
