Champions of the Earth 2025: UNEP’s Highest Environmental Honor Spotlights Climate Solutions

Are you engaged on progressive local weather motion that’s remodeling communities and ecosystems? The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is looking for nominations for the Champions of the Earth 2025—the UN’s highest environmental award recognizing excellent people, organizations, and authorities entities. The award honors leaders delivering transformative affect in areas resembling methane mitigation, clear air, forests, sustainable cooling, and climate-smart building.

The nomination cycle is open from 2 to 30 April 2025, providing a prestigious platform to focus on highly effective local weather options and share them with a world viewers.

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About the Award

Launched in 2005, Champions of the Earth celebrates these advancing environmental safety via coverage, science, entrepreneurship, and community-driven initiatives. Since its inception, UNEP has honored 122 laureates, together with 28 world leaders, 74 people, and 20 organizations from throughout the globe.

The 2025 cycle marks the twentieth anniversary of the award.

Why 2025 Matters
The yr 2025 is a pivotal second for world local weather motion. It marks the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement and the submission of the third spherical of nationwide local weather plans (NDCs). Recognizing Champions of the Earth on this context helps draw world consideration to scalable, real-world options that governments and communities can undertake to satisfy local weather targets and enhance public well being and environmental resilience.

This yr’s version emphasizes options that deal with:

• Methane discount and vitality waste

• Sustainable buildings and building

• Clean air and public well being

• Forest restoration and ecosystem resilience

• Energy-efficient cooling programs

These areas are important to advancing each local weather targets and financial prosperity, particularly as governments put together to submit up to date nationwide local weather plans (NDCs) forward of COP30 in Belem, Brazil.

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Who Can Be Nominated?

UNEP welcomes nominations from throughout sectors and geographies. Individuals, organizations, and authorities our bodies demonstrating affect in the following 4 classes:

1. • Policy Leadership – Government leaders shaping transformative environmental coverage

   • Inspiration and Action – Grassroots advocates driving neighborhood affect

   • Entrepreneurial Vision – Innovators delivering scalable, sustainable options

   • Science and Innovation – Researchers and scientists advancing environmental information

Nominees might embody local weather scientists, indigenous leaders, NGOs, authorities ministries, non-public sector innovators, or civil society teams main impactful environmental initiatives.

Nominations are open to everybody, together with people and third events submitting on behalf of nominees.

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Evaluation and Selection Process

Submissions can be assessed by UNEP employees and subject-matter specialists primarily based on the following standards:

• Impact: Has the initiative led to measurable environmental good points or demonstrated potential for broader replication?

• Novelty: Is the work distinctive or progressive in strategy?

• Influence: Is the nominee’s story compelling and galvanizing to others?

UNEP has obtained over 2,500 nominations in earlier cycles, and this yr’s award guarantees to be much more impactful as the world neighborhood intensifies its concentrate on local weather motion.

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Timeline

• 2–30 April 2025: Nomination window

• Mid-2025: Final choice by UNEP specialists

• Late 2025: Public announcement of the 2025 Champions of the Earth

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Why Nominate?

Being named a Champion of the Earth supplies:

• Global recognition of environmental management

• Media publicity and storytelling assist from UNEP

• An alternative to amplify progressive local weather options on a world stage

• A legacy of inspiration for future changemakers

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Previous Champions

In 2024, laureates included:

• Sonia Guajajara, Brazil’s Minister of Indigenous Peoples

• Amy Bowers Cordalis, Indigenous rights advocate (USA)

• Gabriel Paun, Romanian environmental defender

• Lu Qi, Chinese forest conservation scientist

• Madhav Gadgil, Indian ecologist

• SEKEM, a sustainable agriculture initiative in Egypt

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How to Nominate

The nomination course of is easy and open to the public. To nominate a Champion of the Earth:

Nominate a Champion of the Earth

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Contact

For inquiries, attain out to:

Email: unep-newsdesk@un.org
Visit the official website

For extra alternatives, go to the Opportunities for Youth web site

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The Champions of the Earth award is greater than a recognition—it’s a name to highlight changemakers main the method towards a more healthy, extra resilient planet. If you or somebody you realize is driving transformative environmental affect, nominate them by 30 April 2025 and assist scale daring local weather options.

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