Deadline: 5 April 2024
If you have a powerful idea to protect or restore the environment; if you have a strong track record of instigating change; if you are unafraid of failure; and if you believe in a bright future for the planet, then you just might have what it takes to become a Young Champion of the Earth.
With Young Champions of the Earth – the UN’s most prestigious prize for environmental action by young people – United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is looking for young changemakers with pathbreaking ideas and solutions that showcase nature’s potential in addressing the triple planetary crisis. The award is bestowed annually to ambitious young people from around the world with outstanding ideas to protect and restore the environment.
Benefits
- In 2024, Young Champions of the Earth will be selected, one from each global region: Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, West Asia and two from Asia and the Pacific. Each winner will receive:
- Mentorship, capacity building workshops and access to a UN community of experts
- An introduction to dignitaries at the Young Champions of the Earth award ceremony
- Publicity and recognition through interviews and online and global media
- US$20,000 in seed-funding
- The 2024 Young Champions of the Earth will be required to share their journeys through videos and blogs on this website for up to one year. If you have at least 6 months experience working on a big idea to protect or restore the environment and will be aged between 18 and 30 on 31 December 2024, you are eligible to apply.
The Community
- More than just an honorary title, the Young Champions of the Earth prize aims to nurture the next generation of environmental leaders. Applicants who demonstrate a strong willingness to learn will be granted access to mentoring and skill-building opportunities and to a community of like-minded entrepreneurs and experts.
Eligibility and Limitations
- To be eligible to enter the Young Champions of the Earth competition (hereafter referred to as “the Competition”), applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 30.
- Additionally, each applicant must have at least six months of prior experience working on their environmental project.
- Individuals who submitted applications in previous cycles of the Competition are entitled to do so again. However, only one entry is allowed per person per year.
- Employees of CoalitionWILD, any other Competition partners, the United Nations Environment Programme (hereafter referred to as “UNEP”) and the immediate family members of such employees are not eligible to participate in the Competition, either as applicants or as sponsors.
For more information, visit UNEP.
