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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.

When Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley stood up in front of the United Nations General Assembly earlier this year, she was not in a mood to pull punches.

The United Nations’ highest environmental award honours this year a prime minister, a scientist, indigenous women, and an entrepreneur for their transformative impact on the environment These Champions of the Earth inspire, defend, mo

The 2021 Champions of the Earth are part of a legacy of people whose effective action led to the environmental victories that have transformed our societies for the better.

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.

It might have been the neighbor’s monkey which came downstairs to join her for piano lessons, or the wildlife club that she started in primary school in Kampala, Uganda. But from a very early age, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, this year’s Champion of the Earth for Science and Innovation, knew she wanted to work with animals.

When Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley stood up in front of the United Nations General Assembly earlier this year, she was not in a mood to pull punches. In front of world leaders, she decried the “faceless few” who were pushing the world towards a climate catastrophe and imperilling the future of small-island states, like her own.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, for Maria Kolesnikova, this year’s Champion of the Earth for Entrepreneurial Vision, a picture was worth starting a movement.

Nemonte Nenquimo leads the Waorani people living in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest. In 2019, the Waorani won a legal victory to protect half-a-million acres of rainforest from oil drilling, setting a precedent for regional indigenous rights. She co-founded Ceibo Alliance to unite indigenous communities in protecting their lands and livelihood.

Dr. Fabian Leendertz is a recognized world authority on primate diseases and zoonotic disease specialist. Dr. Leendertz examined the emergence and persistence of pathogens such as Ebola and Anthrax in wildlife and what these and other infectious diseases mean for great apes and humans.

Known as “the man who stopped the desert”, Yacouba Sawadogo from Burkina Faso has been working since the early 1980's to turn barren land into forest in the Sahel. By modifying the Zaï technique, he teaches farmers to regenerate their soil with innovative use of indigenous and local knowledge.

Fiji’s Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama, has been consistently advocating and raising the alarm about the dangerous consequences of climate change and the vulnerability of Pacific countries. Under his leadership, Fiji was the first country to ratify the Paris Agreement. Fiji aims to have zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Known as the “Father of Environmental Justice”, Professor Robert D. Bullard is a scholar, activist and leader of the environmental justice movement. Through extensive research and advocacy, he has served as a catalyst of environmental racism for four decades.

Mindy Lubber is the CEO and President of Ceres since 2003. Ceres' mobilizes the most influential investors and companies and makes the business case for climate action and sustainability. In 2015, Lubber helped catalyze the necessary business support to get the historic Paris Agreement across the finish line.

The 2020 Champions of the Earth are part of a legacy of people whose effective action led to the environmental victories that have transformed our societies for the better.

Next month, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) will announce the award of the United Nations’ top environmental honour to the 2021 Champions of the Earth.

Nemonte Nenquimo has spent years fending off miners, loggers and oil companies intent on developing the Amazon rainforest.

The Escazú Agreement, which will enter into force on Earth Day, April 22, 2021, promotes environmental democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean and includes obligations for the signatory countries regarding the protection of environmental defen

The UN Environment Programme’s Champions of the Earth Award honours individuals, groups and organizations whose actions have a transformative impact on the environment.