UNEP’s 2025 Young Champions of the Earth Awarded
By Frank Okello
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has named three young environmental innovators from India, Kenya, and the United States as winners of the 2025 Young Champions of the Earth award.
The prize, UNEP’s flagship youth engagement initiative, recognizes ambitious activists, entrepreneurs, and environmental innovators under 30 years, whose solutions address some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.
The three recipients, Jinali Mody of India, Joseph Nguthiru of Kenya, and Noemi Florea of the United States, were honored at a ceremony in Nairobi, Kenya. Each awardee received US$20,000 in seed funding, mentorship, and communications support to help expand their projects. They will also be given a global platform to showcase their solutions, to scale impact across communities and industries.
The winners were selected for projects that advance the circular economy, reduce waste, and promote sustainable alternatives to harmful practices.
India’s Jinali Mody, a biochemistry graduate from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, and Yale’s School of the Environment, founded Banofi Leather. The women-led company produces leather alternatives from banana crop waste. By reimagining fast fashion, Banofi reduces water consumption, lowers CO₂ emissions, and eliminates toxic waste associated with traditional leather production.
Kenya’s Joseph Nguthiru, a climate-tech engineer, is tackling the problem of invasive water hyacinth in Lake Naivasha. Through his company HyaPak, he converts the plant into biodegradable packaging and seedling wrappers. The innovation replaces single-use plastic products while restoring agricultural land health and contributing to carbon offset.
From the United States, Noemi Florea founded Cycleau, a compact greywater reuse system developed in consultation with marginalized communities. Installed beneath sinks, showers, or laundry units, the system transforms wastewater into safe drinking water while consuming far less energy than conventional water treatment systems.
Beyond the prize, the three winners will take part in the first-ever Planet A pitch competition on Wednesday. The event will give them the chance to secure an additional US$100,000 business growth grant, as well as potential seed investment of up to US$1 million.
Planet A, a newly launched YouTube channel co-founded by philanthropist and cleantech CEO, Chris Kemper, will film and release the competition in October. The channel is designed to spark global awareness and action by telling the stories of innovators tackling environmental challenges.
Kemper, who is also Chairman, Founder, and CEO of the U.S. clean-energy company Palmetto, described the difficulty of narrowing the field of applicants. “Over 5,000 amazing entrepreneurs around the world were interested in the program, all of whom are seeking to make a positive impact on the planet,” he said. “It was difficult to select only three winners for the 2025 Young Champions program, but these leaders stood out for their passion, drive, execution and innovation.”
The Young Champions of the Earth initiative was first launched by UNEP in 2017. Since then, it has recognized 30 youth leaders worldwide, providing funding and mentorship to help them grow projects ranging from sustainable farming and waste reduction to renewable energy.
The program was re-launched this year in partnership with Kemper, who in 2023 was appointed as UNEP’s Advocate for Partnerships. His role focuses on mobilizing resources and collaborations around urgent environmental priorities, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.
Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, said the three new awardees represent hope for future generations.“The lives of our children and our children’s children are already being dramatically impacted by the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution and waste,” she said. “I commend these inspiring Young Champions of the Earth for their innovations, for the benefit of this and future generations.”
In addition to funding, mentorship, and global exposure, the winners are being given tools to tell their own stories. Each has filmed a short video package documenting their work and vision, using equipment and training provided by UNEP and Planet A.
These self-shot videos, along with behind-the-scenes footage from the Nairobi ceremony and the pitch competition, will be compiled into a documentary to be released on Planet A’s YouTube channel in October. The film is expected to give audiences an inside look at the challenges and triumphs of young innovators working on environmental solutions.
For Mody, Nguthiru, and Florea, winning the Young Champions of the Earth prize is only the beginning. The award offers not only recognition but also a springboard to expand its impact across industries and communities.
By transforming banana waste into leather, cleaning lakes of invasive species, and reimagining how households reuse water, their work represents practical, scalable solutions to global challenges.
As they prepare to compete in the Planet A pitch competition, the three innovators carry the weight of both local communities and a global audience eager for sustainable change. Their success highlights not only the urgency of the environmental crisis but also the creativity and resilience of young leaders determined to shape a better future.