All Laureates

Nemonte Nenquimo didn’t ask to be a celebrity, not to become friends with Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCaprio, nor to be named by Time magazine as one of the most influential people in the world. 

What the indigenous rights activist wanted was for her four-year-old daughter to live in peace, surrounded by the richness of the Amazon…

Afghanistan’s 46-year-old Director General of the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA), Prince Mostapha Zaher has laid the foundation for a sustainable and peaceful future in Afghanistan. For the past five years, he has worked tirelessly for the environment in a country ravaged by 25 years of war and continues to find ways to bring…

Saihanba Afforestation Community won in the Inspiration and Action category for transforming degraded land into a lush paradise.

Saihanba, which covers 92,000 hectares and borders the southern edge of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, had by the 1950s become barren due to excessive logging, allowing sand to blow into…

Samson Parashina, a Maasai warrior, son of a local chief and respected safari guide, has shown amazing commitment to developing sustainable green economy models for Kenya’s Kuku Group Ranch, land communally owned by the Maasai community.

Parashina started as a waiter at an ecotourism lodge, but swiftly rose to become the President of the…

To most people, fins, masks and neoprene wetsuits are recreational gear. But to the non-profit group Sea Women of Melanesia, this year’s Champion of the Earth for Inspiration and Action, they are the tools of change.

Clad in diving gear, the group’s 30-plus members chart the health of the fragile coral reefs that surround Melanesia, a…

Tena Kebena is a non-governmental organization in Ethiopia that brings together around 80 children and youth who have been mostly orphaned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The group cleans up and rehabilitates garbage dumpsites around Addiss Ababa through reforestation. The sites are also used for urban agriculture and the herbal medicines obtained…

For the last thirty years, Timothy E. Wirth has been an advocate for environmental issues in the United States. As the president of the United Nations Foundation and Better World Fund, Mr. Wirt has established the environment as a key priority and is mobilizing strong resources to address crucial issues from biodiversity to climate change and…

Summary

WEDO, established in 1990 by former U.S. Congresswoman Bella Abzug (1920-1998) and feminist activist and journalist Mim Kelber (1922-2004), brings together women from all around the world to take action in the United Nations and other international policymaking forums. 
Since its inception, WEDO has been a…

The West African nation of Burkina Faso is landlocked, arid and is home to an agricultural innovation that has revolutionized farming in African countries battling the effects of drought and climate change. That’s thanks to the patience and determination of Yacouba Sawadogo, winner of the United Nations Environment Programme’s 2020 Champions of…

Born in Paris, France, and recognized as a member of the Academie des Beaux-Arts, Yann Arthus-Bertrand is a photographer, reporter and environmentalist specializing in wildlife and aerial photography. He has published over 60 books and his photographs have appeared in numerous publications around the world. In 2005, he founded the…