Bag that green (literally)

Hey, 

Ever feel like opportunities are scattered all over the place?

Welcome to Green Jobs Rising - your roundup of funding, programs, and competitions driving the green transition worldwide.

Here we go:

• 2026 Whitley Awards

  Funds grassroots conservation leaders in the Global South and puts an international spotlight on winners’ work. 

• Youth Ecopreneur Programme 

  For youth entrepreneurs under 35 who are founders, co-founders, or CEOs. Seeks passionate innovators with a clear understanding of environmental challenges and scalable solutions ready for acceleration.

• 2025 Africa-Europe Foundation Youth Awards

  Highlights youth-led cooperation ahead of the 2025 Africa–Europe Leaders Summit in Luanda, Angola. It celebrates initiatives that demonstrate Africa–Europe partnerships in action. 

• Sustainable Innovation Accelerator Programme - L’Oréal Groupe 

  The leading beauty company, paves the way for a more sustainable future in seeking, advancing and scaling pioneering solutions through the programme. It Seeks to advance, and scales pioneering solutions addressing critical sustainability gaps in the beauty industry. 

• Data for farm value global Challenge 

  The challenge seeks to unlock value, empower farmers and revolutionise data! It seeks to unlock value for smallholder farmers, who often generate key insights but are left out of the data-driven agrifood economy. Selected startups to pitch at the FAO Science and Innovation Forum in Rome and Y Science signature side event of Slush in Helsinki and access and use FAO's and partner's valuable data sets. 

• 2026 United Nations – The Nippon Foundation Fellowship Programme

  The programme provides mid-level professionals from developing States with funded advanced training in ocean affairs, the law of the sea, and related marine sciences. 

• G20 Global Land Initiative 

  The initiative aims for a 50% reduction in land degradation by 2040. The Funds can support restoration, technology adoption, training, and communication of progress.

• African Women in Digital Health (AWiDH) mentorship Program 2025 

  The program is designed to offer mentorship, networking, and skills-building for women-led digital health startups, boosting leadership and communication skills.

  The mentorship program will support mentees to grow their start-up, expand their professional networks, learn how to pitch, build on their already existing skills, build self-confidence and improve their communication and leadership skills. 

• Google Startups for Sustainable Development Program

  The program builds community and supports startups with advisors, funding, and platform technology. The 17 SDGs are used as the framework for measuring impact. 

That’s it for this week’s roundup. 

Pick an opportunity that speaks to you, apply boldly, and keep building the green future we all need.