The Trophy

The Champions of the Earth trophy is a small, crystal version of a sculpture that was created by Prof. Yuan Xikun, a Beijing-based Chinese sculptor, and donated to UNEP for display at its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.

The base of the sculpture is a warming earth beneath a leaning iceberg thawing from the heat. Two young cubs and their mother balance on the top of the thawing iceberg, clinging for survival.

Climate change, which is causing the thinning and disappearance of older sea ice, is reducing essential polar bear habitat and is a great threat to their survival. The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the global average. The area of the Arctic Ocean covered by ice each summer has been shrinking, and the remaining ice is becoming less thick. Loss of sea ice leads to higher energy requirements for polar bears to locate prey and a shortage of food. This causes higher mortality among cubs and reduction in size among first year cubs and adult males.