United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Champions of the Earth Award 2025

The Champions of the Earth Award recognizes individuals and organizations whose actions create transformative environmental impact. In 2024, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) honored exceptional efforts focused on innovative and sustainable solutions to restore degraded land, strengthen resilience to drought, and combat desertification. These champions exemplify global leadership in environmental stewardship, inspiring action and awareness to address some of the planet’s most pressing challenges through practical, scalable solutions that contribute to a more sustainable and resilient future.

Every year since 2005, UNEP honours individuals and organizations working on innovative and sustainable solutions to address the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. Champions transform our economies, innovate, lead political change, fight environmental injustice and defend our natural resources.

Categories of Earth Award

The 2025 award spotlights outstanding climate action focusing on solutions on methane, buildings and construction, sustainable cooling including energy efficiency, clean air, and forests. Nominate a Champion of the Earth.

Nominations can be made in four categories:

• Policy leadership
• Inspiration and action
• Entrepreneurial vision
• Science and innovation

Check : Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) 2025 (up to $1.5 million in prizes)

Eligibility for Earth Award

• Open to individuals and organizations working on innovative and sustainable solutions delivering climate action.
• Applicants may be from anywhere around the world.

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Selection Process

UNEP staff and subject matter experts carefully select Champions from a global pool of nominations. The nomination process is open to everyone, and past cycles have seen over 2,500 submissions from around the world.

The selection criteria are as follows:

• Impact: Have the nominee’s actions resulted in profound environmental gains or demonstrated significant potential for replication and scaling?
• Novelty: Has the nominee done or achieved something new and innovative?
• Influence: How compelling and inspiring is the nominee’s story?

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