The winners of the Children’s Climate Prize 2019 receive their prizes at Stockholm City Hall
The winners of this year’s Children’s Climate Prize will be receiving their awards during the gala tonight, the 13th November, at Stockholm City Hall. US resident Shreya Ramachandran from Fremont, California, is the winner in the category Children’s Climate Prize. The brothers, Vihaan and Nav Agarwal from New Dehli, India, are the winners in the new category Clean Air.
Today marks the end of this year’s Children’s Climate Prize. The award ceremony will take place during a gala evening in Stockholm City Hall. During the gala, guest will be treated to a specially made plant-based menu, created by Sweden’s youngest Master Chef 2019, Agnes Fredriksson in collaboration with the chefs at Stockholm City Hall. In addition to the customized menu, the evening also features performances by Swedish artists Mariette and Felix Sandman and speeches from the winners as well as member of the jury. Besides the medals and an evening in their name, both winners will be awarded 100 000 SEK to further develop their projects.
16-year-old Shreya Ramachandran from Fremont, US and her organisation the Grey Water Project wins in the category Childrens Climate Prize. Shreya started researching grey water when she was 12 years old. She got the idea after she saw first-hand the crippling effects of the drought in her home state California. After four years of research, Shreya was convinced of the positive effects and the potential of grey water, which led to her starting her own non-profit; the Grey Water Project. Today she educates others on how to reuse water in the best way possible, while also working with schools in and around California to teach young people about the benefits and possibilities of water reuse.
The brothers Vihaan and Nav Agarwal, 15 and 12 years old, and their organisation One Step Greener are the winners in the new category Clean Air. One Step Greener was founded when the brothers realized how bad the air quality was in their home town of New Delhi. They felt that the conditions were not acceptable and decided to attack one of the biggest problems regarding the poor air quality – burning landfills. Through planting trees, recycling and education, the brother’s organisation has expanded beyond New Delhi and has, as of today, recycled over 65 tons of waste.
Yesterday, the 12th of November, the winners visited the Södertälje City Hall to attend the Children’s Climate Talks at which the winners had the chance to present their projects in detail. The forum is open to everyone but had specifically invited environmental and climate organizations as well as young people from Södertälje and journalists to be part of the discussions regarding the climate and the environment. The audience also got a chance to meet with the winners and ask them questions.
The Children’s Climate Prize has grown a lot since it first started in 2016. In 2019 a new category, “Clean Air”, in recognition of air pollution being the single biggest threat to human health, has been added. The new Clean Air Prize has been initiated by the new partner Blueair, a world leader in air purification solutions.
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Meet this year’s winners:
Shreya Ramachandran – The Grey Water Project, winner, Children’s Climate Prize:
The Grey Water Project and its founder, Shreya Ramachandran, is working to raise awareness about the benefits of grey water reuse and water conservation. The idea was born during a trip to California at the peak of the state’s water drought, when 16-year-old Shreya saw firsthand the crippling effects of the drought. She quickly realized that water scarcity is a big and global issue and came up with a way to help conserve water – by using the water we already have in our homes. Shreya and the Grey Water Project has educated tens of thousands of people about the benefits of water reuse. The organization is accredited to the United Nations Environment Program and it is also a member of the Global Wastewater Initiative (GW2I).
Nav & Vihaan Agarwal – One Step Greener, winners, Clean Air:
Vihaan and his younger brother Nav created the organization One Step Greener (OST) which strives for a zero-waste future, aiming to reduce air pollution and improve health and wellbeing of people in New Delhi. The idea came to life when the brothers realized that 30 percent of the waste sent to landfills could have been recycled, and 50 percent could have been composted. They have created a system to counteract the garbage that is burned on landfills, by educating people about the importance of recycling waste at source and offering door-to-door dry waste pick-ups. So far, One Step Greener has recycled over 65 tons of waste, preventing about three tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere.
The winners stay at Clarion Hotel Sign, a hotel which aim is for its guests to be more sustainable when staying there then at home, including a Fairtrade breakfast, and solar panels installed on the roof. They constantly work to contribute to UN’s Global goals.
The Gala evening’s set design and furniture partner is Beleco, which innovative offering creates smart circular service through streaming furniture repeatedly. After a piece of furniture is used, it is sent back into the circular cycle, helping users to reduce their CO2 emissions by reducing production!
Press contact Children’s Climate Prize:
Jonas Persson
070 824 39 82
jonas.persson@jmwgolin.se
About the Children’s Climate Prize
The Children's Climate Prize is an international climate event for environmentally conscious people from all over the world. It is a platform to inspire and give young people opportunities to drive change. The prize is awarded to children or youth, aged 12-17, who has taken extraordinary actions for the climate, environment and future generations. The Swedish energy company Telge Energi, which for 11 years has been working exclusively with renewable energy, initiated the prize in 2016 with the purpose of spotlighting the climate issue from the perspective of the next generation. In 2019, the Clean Air category was added in collaboration with the Swedish company Blueair, a world-leader in air purification. Finalists and winners are selected by an independent jury of experts. The winners are awarded with 100 000 SEK to scale up their projects. To read more about the prize, please visit: www.ccprize.org
