Green Limerick: Climate-focused student award calls environment-focused youths to apply
THE SEARCH is on for budding young climate activists across Limerick, following the launch of the Young Environmentalist Awards (YEA) 2025.
Organised by the environmental youth movement, ECO-UNESCO, the YEA recognises the work of young people in Ireland and Northern Ireland who are taking environmental and climate action.
Desmond College in Newcastle West made the semi-final of this year’s YEA programme, for their project on waste and recycling.
They were joined by a team of students from Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh, who created an eco-innovation website.
More than 65,000 children and teenagers aged ten to 18 have been involved with the awards since they began in 1999.
ECO-UNESCO is Ireland’s leading environmental education and youth organisation, working to conserve the environment and empower young people.
Speaking at the launch, ECO-UNESCO national director Elaine Nevin said: “Our young people are our future and every year, when the YEA entries arrive, I always find their enthusiasm and passion for environmental action inspiring.
“We have had some excellent entries from young people in Limerick in the past and I can’t wait to see what actions they take this year,” she continued.
“Young people across the island of Ireland are growing up during an era of extreme weather events and are becoming very concerned about climate change as a result.”
In the ECO-UNESCO Youth Climate Justice survey, almost all respondents (96%) said they were worried about the environment.
The Youth Climate Justice Survey took place between October 2023 and January 2024, with 1,196 respondents answering multiple-choice and open-ended questions.
The results were published in June.
“Just under 65% said the issue of climate change was causing them anxiety, while more than 53% said it was making them fearful, and 47% said it was making them sad,” Ms Nevin said.
Entries to YEA 2025 are now open to any group of young people aged ten to 18.
There are three age categories: ten to 12, 12 to 14, and 15 to 18 years and groups can have as little as two members, but no more than 25.
Registration is free via the YEA website and closes on November 30. The winners of the awards are to be named at a ceremony in Dublin next May.
ECO-UNESCO’s YEA programme for young people across Ireland recognises and rewards those who raise environmental awareness and improve the environment.
Now in its 25th year, the YEA programme aims to honour the work of young people who collaborate to protect, conserve, and enhance the environment through local environmental projects, making a difference to their lives and the lives of others.
To date, the YEA programme has attracted over 65,000 young people and reached countless others with awareness-raising campaigns in schools and communities.
The YEA programme empowers young people to become active citizens, build awareness of environmental issues in the community and promote local actions and lifestyle changes to improve the environment.