How we find our Champions

How we find our Champions

Thank you for your interest. The call for the next round of nominations will be announced in 2025.

The Champions of the Earth award honours individuals and organizations whose actions have a transformative impact on the environment. 

UNEP seeks nominations of individuals and organizations working on innovative and sustainable solutions to restore land, enhance drought resilience, and combat desertification. 

Nominations can be made in four categories:

Selection process

UNEP staff and subject experts select Champions from a list of nominations received from across the world. Nominations are open to everyone. In 2023, UNEP received a record 2,500 nominations, the third consecutive year that nominations reached a high-water mark.  

The selection criteria is 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?