ABSTRACT
In September 2019, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) presented an activist youth organization, Fridays For Future, which had been organizing climate strikes in over 2,000 locations around the world, with its highest honor—the Champions of the Earth award. Speaking on behalf of the organization at the award ceremony in New York, 15-year-old Kallan Benson declined the prize, stating that young people could not accept it. “Instead,” she stressed, “we offer to hold it for you to earn. You at the United Nations hold the power to save humanity from itself. You must act in time to become the real champions of the Earth.” 1
