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THE STANDARD
NAIROBI
Nzambi Matee, Unep’s Young Champion of the Earth for Africa, holding a paving stone made from recycled plastic at her Industrial Area factory.
When Nzambi Matee told her friends she was planning to take up waste management as a career, they thought she was crazy. She was 27 years old, had a degree in Physics from Jomo Kenyatta University, and her peers thought she could do better than recycling waste.
However, if that was the direction she had taken, her friends felt she should employ people to do the ‘dirty’ work. But Matee chose to ignore those who doubted her passion. She pressed on. And being recognised by the UN Young Champions of the Earth programme was the least of her expectations, especially coming just three years after she started.
UNEP names winners of the 2020 Young Champions of the Earth challenge nationalaccordnewspaper.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nationalaccordnewspaper.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
UNEP names seven dynamic environmentalists as its 2020 Young Champions of the Earth
Credit: Pexels / Belle Co / 15 Dec 2020
The Young Champions of the Earth prize is awarded every year to seven entrepreneurs under the age of 30 with bold ideas for sustainable environmental change.
The seven winners, hailing from different regions around the world, receive seed funding, mentoring and communications support to amplify their efforts.
Nairobi, 15 December 2020 – The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) today named seven young scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and activists from across the globe as its 2020 Young Champions of the Earth.
With solutions to harvest water from the air, recycle plastic into paving slabs, and motivate fishing boats to haul tonnes of plastic out of the ocean, these change-makers show how innovative ideas coupled with ambitious action can help solve some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.
UNEP unveils Young Champions of the Earth
An engineer who turns plastic rubbish into paving stones. An activist who is fighting to save endangered salmon. And an inventor who developed a machine capable of pulling water out of the air.
These are just some of the winners of the 2020 Young Champions of the Earth prize, announced on 15 December by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Drawn from seven regions around the world, these under-30 activists were heralded for their commitment to tackling some of the world’s most pressing environmental problems.
“Globally, young people are leading the way in calling for meaningful and immediate solutions to the triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution – we must listen,” said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen.