Deadline: 31-Jan-2026
Applications are now open for the Earth Prize Environmental Sustainability Competition for students between the ages of 13 and 19, which rewards the teams whose projects have the most potential to address environmental issues.
The Earth Prize, the world’s largest environmental competition for young people, has seen participation from teams in over 160 countries and territories during its first four annual editions. It aims to inspire and empower the next generation of environmental leaders and innovators, creating a global platform for sharing and scaling their solutions.
Eligibility: The Earth Prize is open to all students in the secondary education level and is not open to tertiary education students. Eligible institutions are schools or educational programs. The Earth Prize now recognizes seven Regional Winners across Southeast Asia and Oceania, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, North America, and Central & South America. All registration and submission information must be in English. Each Participant can be an individual student or a team of up to five (5) students collaborating on a submission. Participants from different classes and grades are welcome to form a team. Teams can also consist of students from different institutions. Participants are strongly encouraged to have an assigned adult Educator for their team. Valid Educator include, but are not limited to, teachers or school administrators. If Participants have been signed up through an educational program, valid Educator can include program coordinators or educators. For individual participants or groups of homeschooled students, a parent may serve as the Educator. In either case, an official document certifying the Educator status or the student’s authorised homeschooling status will be requested during registration. Past Participants are welcome to register for The Earth Prize again, as long as they meet the eligibility criteria.
Projects submitted to The Earth Prize in a prior year which have been selected as The Earth Prize Winners or Runners-up will not be accepted. Submissions to The Earth Prize are expected to propose solutions aimed at accelerating positive change towards environmental sustainability. The Earth Prize will consider a wide range of solutions: local, national as well as global ones; new ideas with implementation potential as well as existing student projects; products, organisations, enterprises, as well as campaigns.
During this period, Participants and Educators must sign up individually on The Earth Prize website. Once registered, Participants gain access to online mentoring and learning materials, including one-to-one mentoring from The Earth Prize Mentors. Team Leads create teams and invite participants to collaborate. Access to the Submission Portal begins mid-October, and teams are expected to submit their Fresh Ideas by the end of January.
Registration for The Earth Prize is free of charge. No purchase is necessary to enter or win, and participants will never be asked to make any payment at any stage of the competition. Withdrawal from the competition is permitted at any time, whether by individuals or entire teams, without consequences. However, withdrawn participants lose access to the online platform. Those who already earned The Earth Prize Scholars distinction may retain it and remain part of The Earth Prize Alumni. Educators are not considered part of the team but serve as facilitators. Their duties include guiding participants in navigating the online platform and providing further academic support. Teachers are encouraged, though not required, to integrate the online material into their classes. Work submitted must be original, and plagiarism results in automatic disqualification. Educators of Scholar and Regional Winning teams may take on additional responsibilities during advanced phases of the competition.
Each team must have a Team Lead. The Team Lead is responsible for forming the team, coordinating mentoring sessions, nominating account holders for prize distribution, and acting as the main point of contact with The Earth Prize team. To avoid conflicts of interest, employees, contractors, or affiliates of The Earth Foundation and their relatives or close friends are not eligible to participate. Participants and Educators must register on the online platform and join The Earth Prize Discord Community. They provide details such as name, email, date of birth, gender, and school or organization details. Upon registration, they gain access to the global network of mentors, educators, experts, and alumni, where they can seek advice and access educational content to improve their projects.
Each Regional Winner team will receive a prize of USD 12,500 to support idea implementation. Three mentors will also be recognized as The Earth Prize Mentor of the Year and awarded USD 2,500 each. The Earth Prize is a multi-phase competition. The Registration and Submission Phase will be open from 1st September 2025 at 12h00 PM CET to 31st January 2026 at 12h00 PM CET.
For more information, visit The Earth Prize.