{"id":5027,"date":"2026-02-26T00:57:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T00:57:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/?p=5027"},"modified":"2026-02-26T08:21:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T08:21:41","slug":"unep-young-champions-of-the-earth-2026-10000-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/?p=5027","title":{"rendered":"UNEP Young Champions of the Earth 2026 ($10,000 prize)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><div id=\"tdi_1\" class=\"tdc-row\"><div class=\"vc_row tdi_2  wpb_row td-pb-row\" >\n<style scoped>\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n.tdi_2,\r\n                .tdi_2 .tdc-columns{\r\n                    min-height: 0;\r\n                }\n<\/style><div class=\"vc_column tdi_4  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span12\">\n<style scoped>\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n.tdi_4{\r\n                    vertical-align: baseline;\r\n                }\n<\/style><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\" >[vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article id=\"post-172511\">\n<div>\n<p><strong>Deadline: March 31, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Applications are open for the UNEP Young Champions of the Earth 2026. Young Champions of the Earth, launched in 2017, is the flagship youth engagement initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The award is bestowed annually to ambitious young people from around the world with outstanding ideas to protect and restore the environment, and since 2024 it has been implemented with the support of Chris Kemper and in partnership with Planet A.<\/p>\n<p>Our environment is under stress and the evidence is everywhere. It\u2019s in the air we breathe, the food we eat\u202fand the water we drink. It\u2019s in our soils, rivers, oceans\u202fand atmosphere. Some call it the defining challenge of our time.<\/p>\n<p>The question is: What are you doing about it? Now more than ever, those of us who care for the natural world must stand up and be counted. Whether you\u2019re an activist, educator, innovator or artist, we need you to challenge the status quo and fight for the health of our planet and its people.<\/p>\n<p>If you have a powerful idea for improving environmental outcomes; 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 our planet, then you just might have what it takes to become a Young Champion of the Earth.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Award<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Young Champions of the Earth are selected globally. Each winner will have the chance to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Grow their skills and business, including receiving US$10,000<\/li>\n<li>Benefit from mentorship, workshops and access to a world-wide community of environmental experts<\/li>\n<li>Build their VIP network at the Young Champions of the Earth award ceremony and other official events<\/li>\n<li>Gain publicity and global recognition through interviews, speaking engagements and international media coverage<\/li>\n<li>Compete in a pitch competition for the\u00a0Planet A\u00a0grant of up to US$100,000<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Eligibility<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>To be eligible for the Young Champions of the Earth award, applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 30.<\/li>\n<li>Additionally, each applicant must have at least six months of prior experience working on their environmental project.<\/li>\n<li>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.<\/li>\n<li>Employees of lead and support organizations, i.e., United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Planet A and CoalitionWild, and their immediate family members are not eligible to participate in the Award. The term \u201cimmediate family\u201d of such employees includes spouses, siblings, parents, children, grandparents and grandchildren, whether as \u201cin-laws\u201d or by current or past marriage(s), remarriage(s), adoption, co-habitation or other family extension, and any other persons residing in the same household as such employees, whether or not they are related to them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Selection Criteria<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the first stage of the selection process, all applications will be judged by United Nations experts according to the following criteria:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The 3 Ps\u202f\u2013 The positive impact your big idea could have on the environment (planet),\u202fsociety (people)\u202fand its financial viability (prosperity).<\/li>\n<li>The 3 Cs\u202f\u2013 Evidence that you are a curious, courageous\u202fand colourful individual.<\/li>\n<li>Demonstrated commitment\u202f\u2013 It is important that you have already attempted to implement your big idea for at least six\u202fmonths and can outline achievements and\u202fdevelopments to date.<\/li>\n<li>Bankability\u00a0\u2013 A bankable idea is\u202fone that has been thoroughly vetted and considered viable, profitable, and low risk enough by potential lenders or investors to warrant providing capital for its implementation.<\/li>\n<li>Endorsement\u202f\u2013 The strength of your referee\u2019s recommendation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Application<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.office.com\/pages\/responsepage.aspx?id=2zWeD09UYE-9zF6kFubccGKHucmANsZCn_We1UwPSaxUNUxQSFRUUUdXNDVISU5ZT1Y2T0MwNURONi4u&amp;route=shorturl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here to apply<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For more information, visit <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unep.org\/youngchampions\/node\/30\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">UNEP Young Champions of the Earth<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text]<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_column_text css=\"\"] Deadline: March 31, 2026 Applications are open for the UNEP Young Champions of the Earth 2026. Young Champions of the Earth, launched in 2017, is the flagship youth engagement initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The award is bestowed annually to ambitious young people from around the world with outstanding ideas [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow1K2_DA:productID":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-awards"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5027"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5039,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5027\/revisions\/5039"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}