The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launches nominations for the 2024 Champions of the Earth Awards

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has launched a call for nominations for the 2024 Champions of the Earth Prize.

This year, UNEP is encouraging nominations to individuals and organizations that are restoring land, building drought resilience and combating desertification through innovative and sustainable solutions.

The nomination period is from April 15 to May 5, 2024, and the results will be announced at the end of 2024.

This year's World Environment Day, on 5 June, will also focus on land restoration, desertification and drought resilience.

Image courtesy of the United Nations Environment Programme.

It is reported that the nominations will be divided into 4 categories. They are the Policy Leadership Award, the Incentive and Action Award, the Business Excellence Award, and the Science and Innovation Award.

UNEP staff and experts in related fields will be selected from a shortlist of nominees from around the world, based on the main criteria of impact, novelty and impact. That is, has the nominating candidate's actions brought significant environmental benefits or great potential for replication, has an innovative practice been completed or has an innovative outcome been achieved, and how compelling and inspiring is the story?

Known as the "Oscars of environmental protection", the Champions of the Earth Award is the United Nations' highest environmental honour and recognizes outstanding leaders in government, civil society and the private sector who have made a transformative impact on the environment.

In 2023, UNEP received more than 2,500 nominations from around the world, reaching a peak for the third year in a row.

The "Blue Cycle" marine plastic waste management model declared by Zhejiang Province stood out and won the 2023 Champions of the Earth Award. As of the date of the award, 237 industrial chain enterprises and 7,079 ships in Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province have joined the "Blue Cycle", and a total of 10,300 tons of marine debris have been collected and processed, including 2,245.8 tons of plastic waste, reducing carbon emissions by about 2,919.5 tons.

In 2019, the Ant Forest project won the Champions of the Earth Award for its innovations in environmental protection and public engagement. As of August of that year, 500 million Ant Forest users had reduced their carbon emissions by 7.92 million tons, and converted the carbon reductions into 122 million real trees planted in desertified areas.

In 2018, the "Thousand Village Demonstration and Ten Thousand Village Renovation" project in Zhejiang Province won the award. In June 2003, Zhejiang Province launched the "Ten Million Project", which started a large-scale action of village renovation and construction with the core of improving the rural ecological environment and improving the quality of life of farmers. The "Ten Million Project" starts from the improvement of the rural environment, from point to area, iterative upgrading, through 20 years of continuous efforts to create thousands of beautiful villages, benefit thousands of farmers, and create a successful experience and practical example of promoting the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas.

In 2017, a total of six Champions of the Earth winners were selected, of which the winners from China accounted for half of the country, namely the builder of the Saihanba Forest Farm, Mobike, and Wang Wenbiao, chairman of Elion Resources Group, who led the team to control sand in the Kubuqi Desert.