NAIROBI, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has announced the 2025 Champions of the Earth Award winners for pioneering initiatives that tackle the climate crisis.

Unveiled Wednesday on the margins of the seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) underway in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, the five winners were recognized for promoting climate justice, methane emissions reduction, sustainable cooling, forest conservation, and resilient buildings.

The Champions of the Earth Award, now in its 20th year, is the UN's highest environmental honor, celebrating green leaders and innovators who deliver important solutions in their respective fields.

Inger Andersen, the executive director of UNEP, said that this year's Champions of the Earth show the kind of leadership that will inspire the world to face down the challenge of climate change.

This year's winners include the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, a youth-led climate justice lobby, who won in the Policy Leadership category.

Supriya Sahu, an official in India's southern state of Tamil Nadu, was recognized for her sustainable cooling and ecosystem restoration initiatives that have created 2.5 million green jobs, expanded forest cover and integrated heat adaptation into infrastructure, benefiting 12 million people. She has served as additional chief secretary in the state's Department of Environment, Climate Change, and Forest.

Other winners include Mariam Issoufou, the principal and founder of Miriam Issoufou Architects, based in Mali and France, whose organization has promoted climate resilient buildings across the Sahel region.

Imazon, a non-profit research institute in Brazil, was recognized for combining science and AI-driven geospatial tools to curb deforestation in the Amazon, while Manfredi Caltagirone, former head of the UNEP's International Methane Emissions Observatory, was honored posthumously for championing science-based action on methane. ■