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Healthy food systems have a positive impact on the natural environment. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is partnering with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to bring youth action to food systems.

On 3rd February 2021, The Duke of Cambridge, Prince William spoke to seven young environmentalists from the UN Environment Programme's (UNEP

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres shares his message of support for the 2020 Champions of the Earth, the UN’s highest environmental honour, and Young Champions of the Earth, UNEP's forward looking prize.

31 October is World Cities Day. The theme for 2020 is Valuing Our Communities and Cities.  For the Day, we look back to one of our Young Champions of the Earth from 2017, Latin America and Caribbean winner Liliana Jaramillo.

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.

2019 Young Champion of the Earth for Asia and the Pacific, Sonika Manadhar created the Green Energy Mobility (GEM) platform in her country of Nepal.

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.

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.

The 2019 Young Champion of the Earth for Africa is Adjany Costa from Angola. Adjany is committed to saving one of the world’s last wild places, the Okavango Basin.

The 2019 Young Champion of the Earth winner for Europe has launched the “Plant the Forest” website to reach more people in our reforestation efforts. In the future, she is also planning to launch a “Plant the forest” educational gaming project, where your actions in virtual reality lead to tree restoration in real life.

2019 Young Champion of the Earth for North America Molly Burhans founded GoodLands, where they work to bring Catholic conservation to the scale and impact of Catholic healthcare and education, as the largest global network of its kind.

Young Champion of the Earth from 2017, Mariama Mamane, turns water hyacinth, an invasive species, into fertilizer, bio-gas and energy.

UN Environment is seeking inspired young problem-solvers with big, bold, ideas for the environment, for humanity, for a greener future. Does that sound like you? Apply: unenvironment.org/youngchampions - Narrated by Alec Baldwin.