Lifetime Achievement Award

This award is selected and conferred by the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It recognises decades of consistent action on behalf of the planet and its inhabitants. The legacy of the laureates in this award is one of determined action. They share the knowledge that we can solve the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution with effective action.

UNEP coordinates and hosts the annual Champions of the Earth awards. UNEP’s reputation as the global, non-partisan authority on environmental issues is built from 50 years of ground-breaking, science-based research that leads and informs global environmental policy.

Since its inception in 2005, the annual Champions of the Earth award has brought visibility and validation to some of the world’s most dynamic environmental leaders, from pioneering scientists and captains of industry to heads of state and community activists. They are inspirational and motivational examples of the potential of individual and collective action to change the world.

Lifetime Achievement AWARD - PAST LAUREATES

Madhav Gadgil

Madhav Gadgil

Lifetime Achievement 2024
Indian ecologist Madhav Gadgil has spent decades protecting people and the planet through research and community engagement in the biologically diverse Western Ghats.

Sir David Attenborough

Lifetime Achievement 2021
When Sir David Attenborough was a boy, he spent much of his free time bounding through abandoned quarries in the English countryside, hammer in hand. His prey: fossilized ammonites…

Robert Bullard

Lifetime Achievement 2020
The “Father of Environmental Justice” with over four decades of action advocating for racial equality and fair environmental and urban planning.

Joan Carling

Lifetime Achievement 2018
Joan Carling has been defending land and environmental rights of indigenous peoples for more than 20 years. She actively participated in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Chan…
All Lifetime Achievement Laureates

Other Award Categories

Entrepreneurial Vision

Inspiration and Action

Science and Innovation

Policy Leadership

The Champions of the Earth award, the UN’s highest environmental honour, recognizes outstanding leaders from government, civil society and the private sector whose actions have a transformative impact on the environment.

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