It all started in 2012, when Akansha Singh was studying for her Master’s degree in Social Entrepreneurship. She stayed with communities in remote rural areas to experience first-hand what issues the farming communities in India face.
As Cipriani restaurant in New York filled with guests on 26 September 2019, the Champions of the Earth award ceremony came alive with colour and energy.
At a time when climate change is at the top of the agenda, action to tackle our environmental crisis was central to the night’s activities.
New York, 27 September 2019 – The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has officially honoured 12 environmental changemakers from around the world with the 2019 UN Champions of the Earth Award and the Young Champions of the Earth Prize.
From the official launch of the Principles for Responsible Banking to the more than 150 proposals for nature-based solutions to the climate crisis, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) made great strides in pushing for climate actio
The seven Young Champions of the Earth gathered in New York to talk at a series of events and attend a training before celebrating their win at the inaugural gala ceremony.
Louise Mabulo, chef and joint winner for Asia and the Pacific, sat on a panel with celebrity chef Massimo Bottura as part of a series of talks held at the United Nations on the sidelines of the Climate Action Summit.
Climate change was top of the agenda at the Social Good Summit. Young thought leaders from all regions of the globe, including those honoured by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), spoke out on issues central to the climate crisis at the Social Good Summit.
With United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres designated “keynote listener,” the first Youth Climate Summit on 21 September held at UN Headquarters over the weekend had a high-level audience.
But it is what young people had to say during the day-long summit and at related events leading up to the Climate Action Summit on Monday 23 September that will resonate with millions on the front lines of climate action.
The atmosphere was celebratory. But the occasion was not.
As the crowds poured into New York’s Battery Park on Friday, a historic moment was made. In the biggest climate march the world has ever seen, young and old school and work strikers in 150 countries from all continents including Antarctica, took to the streets.
Fridays for Future receives United Nations’ top environmental award for inspiration and action
Global student movement hailed for its role in highlighting the devastating effects of climate change
New York, 21 September 2019 – Fridays for Future, a dynamic global student movement inspired by Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, has received the 2019 Champions of the Earth award, the UN’s h
The Young Champions of the Earth prize is awarded every year to seven entrepreneurs under the age of 30 with big ideas for environmental change.
The young champions recognized from across the globe receive seed funding, mentoring and communications support to amplify their efforts.
The winners will be awarded their prize at a ceremony in New York after the Climate Action Summit.
19 September 2019
Twenty-four-year-old Omar Itani from Lebanon wins the prestigious Young Champions of the Earth Prize for West Asia with FabricAID.
Seven young entrepreneurs under the age of 30 with big ideas for environmental change have been recognized from across the globe.
Young Champions in each region receive seed funding, mentoring and communications support to amplify their efforts.
19 September 2019
When twenty-four-year-old Omar Itani decided to clear out his wardrobe, the idea of throwing his old clothes away didn’t occur to him. Instead, he looked for second-hand clothing stores to recycle them. But he didn’t find any.
2019 Young Champion of the Earth for West Asia, Omar Itani, founded FabricAid in Beirut, Lebanon. Chemicals from dyes can have severe impacts on soil and water sources from run-off. FabricAID reuses and recycles unwanted clothes. Clothes are graded, sorted into over 46 categories, cleaned in their warehouse and redistributed to disadvantaged communities at US$0.3 – US$2 per item.
Bright lights brighten up the buzzing streets of Kathmandu at night. Markets spin with people, traffic weaving in and out of fabric shop fronts laden with orange, blue and turquoise clothes and wraps.
Thirty-year-old Sonika Manandhar is standing outside a conference hall. She has been working late, and bus services end at 8 p.m, so private hail rides are her only option.
When twenty-year-old Louise Mabulo and her family geared up to celebrate Christmas Eve in 2016, little did they know of the devastation about to hit.
In the early hours, the Philippines was rocked by Typhoon Nock-ten, the strongest Christmas Day tropical cyclone worldwide. It left 11,000 people stranded without electricity or food supplies and killed 11 more.
Sonika Manandhar from Nepal wins the prestigious Young Champions of the Earth Prize for Asia and the Pacific for honing big data to make electric transport more efficient and accessible, especially for women.
Seven young entrepreneurs under the age of 30 with big ideas for environmental change have been recognized from across the globe.
Young Champions from each region receive seed funding, mentoring and communications s
2019 Champion of the Earth for Asia and the Pacific, Louise Mabulo, works with farmers in the Philippines who live below the poverty line, and are vulnerable to not only disaster, but become targets of terrorist groups.
Twenty-year-old Louise Mabulo from the Philippines wins the prestigious Young Champions of the Earth Prize for Asia and the Pacific for boosting farmers’ income through climate-resilient cocoa.
Seven young entrepreneurs under the age of 30 with big ideas for environmental change have been recognized from across the globe.
Young Champions from each region receive seed funding, mentoring and communications support to amplif
Twenty-one-year-old Brazilian Anna Luisa Baserra always wanted to be a scientist. From washing liquid to shampoo, no household item escaped the potential for becoming the next scientific experiment.
“I used to play with my cousins, trying to make chemical compounds from any liquids we could find, mixing them up and pretending to be professional scientists,” she recalls.
Twenty-one-year-old Brazilian Anna-Luisa Beserra wins the prestigious Young Champions of the Earth Prize in Latin America and the Caribbean for making a cistern solution for clean water.
Seven young entrepreneurs under the age of 30 with big ideas for environmental change have been recognized from across the globe.
Twenty-nine-year-old Angolan Adjany Costa wins the prestigious Young Champions of the Earth Prize for Africa for her efforts in conserving the world’s last wild places.
Seven young entrepreneurs under the age of 30 with big ideas for environmental change have been recognized from across the globe.
The 2019 Young Champion of the Earth for Latin America and the Caribbean, Anna Luisa Santos developed Aqualuz, the only technology in the world for cisterns, which only needs sunlight to make rainwater suitable for consumption. It is a validated technology in the field, with many advantages compared to competitors including clay filter, chlorination and water boiling.