UNEP Young Red Tops of the Earth 2025 Announced

UNEP has declared the 2025 Young Champions of the Earth awardees based in India, Kenya, and the US, to promote innovations by the youth in waste management, plastic alternatives, and water reuse.

The Young Champions of the Earth program, created by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in collaboration with climate technology entrepreneur Chris Kemper has concluded winners of the 2025 Young Champions of the Earth program. The 2021 awardees, based in India, Kenya, and the United States are reputationed as innovative groundbreakers who address some of the gravest challenges facing the planet, including plastic pollution and wastewater reuse as well as sustainable materials.

About the Programme

The Young Champions of the Earth award is the inaugural project of UNEP, which was initiated in 2017 and aims to empower youths who are under 30 and give them ideas to transform environmental conditions. It offers seed funding, mentorship, and a global scale-up opportunity to their solutions. In 2025, the programme came to life once again but it was energetised with the help of Chris Kemper, founder and CEO of Palmetto, and fellow co-founder and co-founder of Planet A, a YouTube channel that promotes environmental awareness.

The Winners of 2025 and their Inventions.

• Jinali Mody (India) - Jinali Mody is the founder of Banofi Leather, where she uses the waste of banana crops to create an environmental-friendly leather alternative. Her design reduces water consumption, non-biodegradable waste material, and emissions and competes against the fast-fashion industry with a sustainable, women-run company.
• Joseph Nguthiru (Kenya) - CEO of HyaPak, who is reusing the water hyacinth (which is an invasive species in Lake Naivasha) in biodegradable packages and seedling wrappers. This minimizes the amount of single-use plastics on the market, increases the fertility of soils, and compenses the carbon emission.
• Noemi Florea (United States) - Inventor of Cycleau, a small scale greywater cycle installed under sinks and showers. It uses waste water to clean drinking water which is a cheap alternative to other marginalised communities.

The finalists take home US $ 20,000 each with a possible additional US $ 100,000 growth grant and a potential US $ 1 million seed investment through the Planet A pitch competition.

Meaning and Association.

The awards illuminate the importance of youth-led innovation in addressing the triple planetary crisis of climate change, loss of biodiversity and pollution. With the support of UNEP and digital counseling at Planet A, these innovators can be seen all over the world to motivate others. The relations between UNEP and leaders of the private sector represent the importance of philanthropy, cleantech, and digital media in making the world a more sustainable place.