Bangkok, 25 February 2026

Save the Children, together with regional partners, officially announced the winner of the Generation Hope Goals 2026 during the 13th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) at the United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC) in Bangkok. Eco Sentinels was selected as the overall winner from more than 330 applicant teams, representing over 1,400 young people across the Asia-Pacific region.

Generation Hope Goals is a collaborative initiative led by Save the Children in partnership with UN ESCAP, UNDP, UNFCCC RCC Asia-Pacific, and regional partners. The initiative provides a platform for young people aged 14–24 to develop practical, scalable climate solutions that can be linked to national development plans.

This year, five finalist teams from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Nepal, and Vanuatu advanced through a rigorous multi-stage selection process. Each team presented solutions aligned with SDG 6 (Clean Water), SDG 7 (Clean Energy), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). Their projects were designed as “investable solutions,” aligned with global climate finance frameworks and capable of scaling beyond pilot implementation.

The winning team will receive seed funding and technical support to move their project from concept to on-the-ground implementation, helping bridge the gap between ideas and practical action—one of the key challenges facing youth-led initiatives across the region.

Guillaume Rachou, Executive Director of Save the Children Thailand, said:

“At the heart of Generation Hope Goals and the APFSD forum is the acceleration of the Sustainable Development Goals in tangible ways. We clearly see that when young people are given meaningful opportunities and appropriate support, they can serve as both implementers and innovators in climate action.

The solutions developed by young people do not address a single issue—they cut across multiple goals, including clean energy, sustainable cities, waste management, and climate adaptation. Supporting and scaling youth-led initiatives therefore presents a real opportunity to accelerate progress across several SDGs at the same time.

In the context of Thailand, achieving NDC 3.0 and Net Zero by 2050 will require action from all sectors. This platform demonstrates that youth are a critical driving force. Their solutions are investable and scalable. We therefore need increased investment and stronger climate finance mechanisms to help youth-led initiatives grow from community-level innovation to national impact.”

Although no Thai team reached the final five this year, Thailand, as host country, played a key role as a regional learning hub. Lessons and good practices emerging from youth innovators across Asia can inform Thailand’s own efforts toward achieving its NDC 3.0 and Net Zero 2050 targets.

Save the Children and its partners call on governments and the private sector to increase investment in youth-led climate initiatives, create meaningful participation spaces for young people in decision-making processes, and integrate innovation and problem-solving skills into education systems so that every child can grow up in a safe and sustainable society.