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UNEP is preparing for the 2026 Champions of the Earth awards – the UN’s highest environmental honour – this year focusing on leaders at the forefront of caring for the ocean, an ecosystem essential to life on Earth that is increasingly under strain.
For more than two decades, the Champions of the Earth awards have recognized trailblazers whose work has shaped environmental policy and practice around the world. The 2026 edition seeks individuals, organizations and governments driving efforts to protect and restore ocean health—an area critical to climate stability, biodiversity, food security, and sustainable economic development.
Every year since 2005, UNEP honours individuals and organizations working on innovative and sustainable solutions to address the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. Champions transform our economies, innovate, lead political change, fight environmental injustice and defend our natural resources.
