The 2019 Champion of the Earth Award for Entrepreneurial Vision goes to Patagonia.

Since 1973, Patagonia has placed sustainability at the heart of its business. Many of its products are made from recycled plastic bottles, hemp or organic cotton, while employees earn clothing credits for carpooling to work.

Last year, the company said it would give US$10 million to grassroots groups fighting climate change. It is also working with around 100 small farmers who grow cotton using regenerative practices in India, with the scheme due to be expanded to 450 farmers next year. The farmers control pests with traps and gather the cotton by hand.

Founder Yvon Chouinard says, “Patagonia is in business to save our home planet.”

For more information, go to: https://www.unenvironment.org/championsofearth/

Climate change was top of the agenda at the Social Good Summit. Young thought leaders from all regions of the globe, including those honoured by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), spoke out on issues central to the climate crisis at the Social Good Summit.

Fourteen-year-old Alexandria Villaseñor, leader of the New York City climate march and founder of Earth Uprising, was among the first to speak. Responding to sceptics, as to whether they make a difference, she said:  “It really has in the past year.” If oil companies see the strikes as the biggest threat to the oil industry, “then we are making a difference”, she said. On an emotional level, strikes help to fight climate anxiety, she added. 

The day before, she and other young climate activists affiliated with the Fridays for Future movement were named UN Champion of the Earth award.

Discussions throughout the day touched on the far-reaching implications of climate change, which some say are too often little understood. Indigenous communities spoke out about the implications that diminishing natural resources and extreme weather events have on the shifting roles of women, who may need to go further for water, for example. 

Or on biodiversity loss. Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Coordinator for the Association of Peul women and Autochthonous People of Chad, explained that Lake Chad is evaporating at an alarming rate, with biodiversity loss impacting wildlife and migration routes. 

A session on women’s health touched on the surprising connections between climate change and reproductive rights. Alaa Murabit, UN High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth and a Sustainable Development Goals Advocate, said:  “What is a woman’s issue, when we all living in the same world?” Having agency over reproductive rights is the first step in empowering women in the world in general, including around decisions which will impact the environment, she said. 

Sessions touched on the clothes we wear: Mara Hoffman, President and creative Director of the Mara Hoffman brand, spoke of the difficulties in redesigning the fashion industry to change the way products are sourced and to close the loop on fashion waste. Sustainability is an evolving concept, she said.

Omar Itani, this year’s UNEP Young Champion of the Earth winner for West Asia and Founder of FabricAID, reiterated that changing the whole business model of the fashion industry, from suppliers to price points, will take time.

“But fashion is the one industry where we don’t need to wait for corporates,” he said. “We need awareness, and people need to understand the immense impact of the fast fashion industry.

“It’s for us to decide what to consume, and they [fashion houses] will follow. It starts from us. Clothes are such an intimate thing to us, they are our character and we don’t want our character to be polluted. But if we consume less, we can make a difference.”

Jayathma Wickramanayake, the United Nations Youth Envoy, spoke on the power of youth mobilization and said that system change is also needed. 

While young people are increasingly conscious that the way we live, the way we travel, what we eat and what we wear must all be reconsidered, there are limits to what individuals can achieve, she said.

“Individual change is great, but that is not enough. To tackle the biggest crisis that our planet has faced and continues to face, we need to change systems, especially our economic and political systems that put profit over people and planet,” she said.

“Until that system change is done, these young people will sacrifice their education, their childhood, hopes, dreams, and keep fighting so that we are all pushed in the right direction before it’s too late.”

The Social Good Summit was launched ten years ago by Mashable, United Nations Foundation, 92Y, and the United Nations Development Programme to celebrate activism and galvanize action among youth.

Issues on UNEP’s agenda will be front and centre all week as world leaders gather at UN Headquarters for high-level week activities. They include highlighting how governments, civil society and individuals can take action on climate, sharing updates on the Sustainable Development Goals, celebrating outstanding environmental action and much more.

The UN Climate Action Summit takes place in New York City on 23 September 2019 to increase ambition and accelerate action on the global climate emergency and support the rapid implementation of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. The 2019 UN Climate Action Summit is hosted by UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

The Young Champions of the Earth Prize, powered by Covestro, is UN Environment Programme's leading initiative to engage youth in tackling the world's most pressing environmental challenges. Stay tuned to apply in January.

The 2019 Champion of the Earth for Inspiration and Action goes to Fridays for Future. Fridays For Future is a movement that began in August 2018, after then 15 years old Greta Thunberg sat in front of the Swedish parliament every schoolday for three weeks, to protest against the lack of action on the climate crisis. She posted what she was doing on Instagram and Twitter and it soon went viral. On the 8th of September, Greta decided to continue striking every Friday until the Swedish policies provided a safe pathway well under 2-degree C, i.e. in line with the Paris agreement.

For more information, go to: https://www.unenvironment.org/championsofearth/

Videos include excerpts courtesy of European Parliament (EPTV)

• Fridays for Future receives United Nations’ top environmental award for inspiration and action
• Global student movement hailed for its role in highlighting the devastating effects of climate change

New York, 21 September 2019 – Fridays for Future, a dynamic global student movement inspired by Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, has received the 2019 Champions of the Earth award, the UN’s highest environmental honour.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recognized Fridays for Future in the ‘Inspiration and Action’ category.

Fridays for Future was honoured for electrifying the global conversation about climate change at a time when the window of opportunity to avoid the worst effects of rising temperatures is rapidly closing. Millions of passionate activists have joined the movement to insist that their voices be heard.

Every Friday, students around the world take to the streets to demand that politicians do more to acknowledge and act upon the reality and severity of climate change. These regular marches have attracted more than one million young people across over 100 countries. 

“The Fridays for Future movement has brought passion, hope and urgency to our efforts to tackle the worst effects of climate change. These young people are an inspiration and leading voices reminding us that what we do - or fail to do - today will have consequences in the future,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. 

“They understand that we are in a race for our lives. They should inspire us all to do our utmost to tackle the climate emergency - we ignore them at our peril,” she said. 

The Fridays for Future movement began after Thunberg sat in protest in front of the Swedish parliament for three weeks in 2018 to draw attention to the climate emergency. Inspired by her example, other students around the world started organising their own protests. 

Thunberg will attend UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ Climate Action Summit in New York on 23 September, having crossed the Atlantic in a carbon-free racing yacht to avoid travelling by air, and will accept the award on behalf of Fridays for Future at a ceremony in New York on 26 September.

The Secretary-General has urged world leaders, businesses and civil society to come to the summit with concrete ideas of how they will cut emissions by 45 per cent in the next decade and achieve net zero emissions by 2050, in line with the Paris Climate Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. He has urged leaders to “come with a plan, not a speech”.

The passion and energy displayed by the Fridays for Future movement offer hope that global leaders can be persuaded to act to reduce carbon emissions within 12 years and hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C and even, as advised by the latest science, to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

“I am delighted that Fridays for Future has received this award, which pays tribute to the millions of students and young people who have demanded immediate climate action and that we listen to the united science,” Thunberg said. 

“We are at a critical turning point and we cannot stay silent. Our leaders must act now to limit the worst effects of the climate crisis. We will keep demanding action because the alternative is to accept the unacceptable.”

In June, Thunberg and the Fridays for Future movement were honoured with Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience award, which celebrates people who have shown unique leadership and courage in standing up for human rights. 

Champions of the Earth is the UN’s flagship global environmental award. It was established by the UNEP in 2005 to celebrate outstanding figures whose actions have had a transformative positive impact on the environment. From world leaders to environmental defenders and technology inventors, the awards recognise trailblazers who are working to protect our planet for the next generation. 

Fridays for Future is among five winners this year. The other categories are Policy Leadership; Entrepreneurial Vision; and Science and Innovation. The 2019 laureates will be honoured at a gala ceremony in New York on 26 September during the 74th UN General Assembly. Also honoured at the event will be seven environmental trailblazers between the ages of 18 and 30, who will take home the coveted Young Champions of the Earth prize.

Previous winners of the Champions of the Earth award for Inspiration and Action include Afroz Shah, an Indian lawyer who organised the world’s biggest beach clean-up project in Mumbai (2016); the all-female Black Mamba anti-poaching unit from South Africa (2015); and Martha Isabel Ruiz Corzo, a community-based conservation activist from Mexico (2013).

NOTES TO EDITORS

About the UN Environment Programme

The UN Environment Programme is the leading global voice on the environment. It provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.

About Weibo

The Champions of the Earth are organised in partnership with Weibo – China’s leading social media outlet for people to create, share and discover content online. Weibo has over 486 million monthly active users.

About Champions of the Earth

The annual Champions of the Earth prize is awarded to outstanding leaders from government, civil society and the private sector whose actions have had a positive impact on the environment. Since 2005, Champions of the Earth has recognized 88 laureates, ranging from world leaders to technology inventors. 

For more information, please contact:

Keishamaza Rukikaire, Head of News & Media, UNEP +254 722 677747

• Costa Rica wins United Nations’ flagship environmental award in the policy leadership category
• Central American country recognized for leading the way to a zero-carbon future

20 September 2019 -- Costa Rica has received a 2019 Champions of the Earth award, the UN’s highest environmental honour, for its role in the protection of nature and its commitment to ambitious policies to combat climate change. 

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recognized Costa Rica in the policy leadership category. 

A world leader in sustainability, the Central American nation has drafted a detailed plan to decarbonize its economy by 2050, in line with the Paris Climate Agreement and the UN’s’ Sustainable Development Goals. It hopes to provide a template for other nations to curb the deadly emissions causing rapid, disastrous climate change. 

Costa Rica’s success in placing environmental concerns at the heart of its political and economic policies is evidence that sustainability is both achievable and economically viable.

“Costa Rica has been a pioneer in the protection of peace and nature and sets an example for the region and for the world,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. 

“Climate change demands urgent and transformative action from all of us. With its ambitious plans to decarbonize the economy, Costa Rica is rising to that challenge,” she added. “Global emissions are reaching record levels and we must act now to move to cleaner, more resilient economies.

The need for radical global action on climate change will be highlighted at UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ Climate Action Summit in New York on 23 September. The Secretary-General has urged world leaders, businesses and civil society to come to the summit with concrete ideas of how they intend to cut emissions by 45 per cent in the next decade and achieve net zero emissions by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. 

Costa Rica’s National Decarbonization Plan was unveiled in February and includes bold mid- and long-term targets to reform transport, energy, waste and land use. The aim is to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, meaning the country will produce no more emissions than it can offset through actions such as maintaining and expanding its forests. 

Already, more than 98 per cent of Costa Rica’s energy is renewable and forest cover stands at more than 53 per cent after painstaking work to reverse decades of deforestation. In 2017, the country ran for a record 300 days solely on renewable power. The aim is to achieve 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2030. Seventy per cent of all buses and taxis are expected to be electric by 2030, with full electrification projected for 2050.

Costa Rica’s groundbreaking role in promoting clean technologies and sustainability is all the more remarkable for the fact that the country of around 5 million people produces only 0.02 per cent* of global emissions. 

“Receiving the Champions of the Earth award on behalf of  Costa Rica, its entire population, the past generations who protected the environment, and future generations fills me with pride and emotion for what Costa Rica has achieved and for what we can continue to do because we can achieve even more. I feel very proud to be Costa Rican,” said President Carlos Alvarado Quesada.

“About 50 years ago, the country began to advance a series of innovative environmental policies because the paradigm of sustainable development is very much in Costa Ricans’ DNA. The decarbonization plan consists of maintaining an upward curve in terms of economic employment growth, and at the same time generating a downward curve in the use of fossil fuels in order to stop polluting. How are we going to achieve that? Through clean public transport; smart and resilient cities; sound waste management; sustainable agriculture and improved logistics,” he said. 

The Champion of the Earth award recognizes Costa Rica’s sustainability credentials and also spotlights the urgent need to find solutions to climate change. Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require unprecedented changes to reduce carbon emissions by 45 per cent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching net zero around 2050.

Champions of the Earth is the UN’s flagship global environmental award. It was established by UNEP in 2005 to celebrate outstanding figures whose actions have had a transformative positive impact on the environment. From world leaders to environmental defenders and technology inventors, the awards recognise trailblazers who are working to protect our planet for the next generation. 

Costa Rica is among five Champions of the Earth this year. The other categories are entrepreneurial vision; inspiration and action; and science and innovation. The 2019 laureates will be honoured at a gala ceremony in New York on 26 September during the 74th UN General Assembly. Also honoured at the event will be seven environmental trailblazers between the ages of 18 and 30, who will take home the coveted Young Champions of the Earth prize.

Previous laureates from the region include Michelle Bachelet, former president of Chile, for her outstanding leadership in creating marine protected areas and for boosting renewable energy (2017); former Brazilian environment minister Izabella Teixeira for her visionary leadership and key role in reversing deforestation of the Amazon (2013); and Mexican ecologist José Sarukhán Kermez for a lifetime of leadership and innovation in the conservation of biodiversity in Mexico and around the world (2016). 

NOTES TO EDITORS

About the UN Environment Programme

The UN Environment Programme is the leading global voice on the environment. It provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.

About Weibo

The Champions of the Earth are organised in partnership with Weibo – China’s leading social media outlet for people to create, share and discover content online. Weibo has over 486 million monthly active users.

About Champions of the Earth

The annual Champions of the Earth prize is awarded to outstanding leaders from government, civil society and the private sector whose actions have had a positive impact on the environment. Since 2005, Champions of the Earth has recognized 88 laureates, ranging from world leaders to technology inventors.

For more information, please contact:

Keisha Rukikaire, Head of News & Media, UN Environment Programme 

*This figure was updated on 6 February 2020 after consultation with the Ministry of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica has long punched above its weight as a global green pioneer with a strong social conscience, but now the Central American nation is preparing to cross the ultimate environmental frontier with a detailed plan to decarbonize its economy by 2050. 

Many countries have promised to do the same—reducing emissions is a key commitment of signatories to the Paris Climate Agreement—but Costa Rica is one of the first to turn pledges into solid policies and to frame the shift in terms of economic and social benefit.

In recognition of its decades-long commitment to ambitious policies to combat climate change and protect the planet’s natural resources, Costa Rica was awarded the United Nations Environment Programme’s Champions of the Earth award for policy leadership this year.

“Costa Rica has been a pioneer in the protection of peace and nature. With effective policies that involve the state, citizens, scientists and the private sector, the country will achieve its goals and set an example to the region and the world,” said Leo Heileman, the UN Environment Programme’s Regional Director in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Costa Rica’s government says it is going to decarbonize the economy because it makes economic and social sense, a statement that challenges the oft-quoted trope that fighting climate change will cost jobs and stifle development. Costa Rica’s message is that sustainability and growth can—and must—go hand-in-hand. 

“How are we going to achieve that? Through the electrification of transport, smart and resilient cities, sound waste management, sustainable agriculture and improved logistics,” he said.

Costa Rica’s environmental credentials are impressive: more than 98 per cent of its energy is renewable, forest cover now stands at more than 53 per cent after painstaking work to reverse decades of deforestation and around a quarter of the country’s land has been turned into protected parks and reserves.

This doesn’t mean the challenge of decarbonization is any less daunting or any easier to deliver than in other countries. But Costa Rica’s leaders are undeterred. They’ve pushed the boundaries before.

“Costa Rica has a long history of achievements, not only in terms of the environment but also in other fields,” said President Alvarado.

“Seventy years ago Costa Rica abolished the military and opted to be a country of peace and, for many years now, the country also has free, mandatory public education for children. And about 50 years ago, the country began to push a series of innovative environmental policies because the paradigm of sustainable development is very much in the DNA of Costa Ricans,” he said.

“Receiving the Champions of the Earth award on behalf of Costa Rica, of its entire population, of past generations who protected the environment and future generations fills me with pride and emotion for what Costa Rica has achieved and for what we can continue to do because we can achieve even more,” he said.

The National Decarbonization Plan, with bold mid- and long-term targets to reform transport, energy, waste, and land use, was launched in February of 2019. The aim is to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, meaning the country will produce no more emissions than it can offset through actions such as maintaining and expanding its forests.

The plan will help the country fulfil its commitments under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, but those global targets are not the only drivers. Officials say they want to change the paradigm of development and build a consumption and production system that generates an environmental surplus rather than a deficit.

In fact, this country of 5 million people produces only 0.02 per cent* of global emissions. Despite this, it wants to inspire others with bigger carbon footprints to bring about the urgent transformations needed to prevent destructive global warming.

Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require unprecedented changes to reduce carbon emissions by 45 per cent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching net zero emissions around 2050.

The biggest challenge for Costa Rica will likely be decarbonizing the transport sector, which accounts for 40 per cent of total emissions. The National Plan’s targets are ambitious: by 2050 all public buses and taxis will emit zero emissions, and an electric train will provide transport in the capital city, San José. Construction of the line is due to start in 2022.

Legislation has also been introduced to grant companies tax breaks if they build bike racks and buy bicycles for their employees. Municipalities will also be obliged to build bike lanes on all new roads.

President Alvarado has a clear vision of the city of the future. “I imagine a city where mobility is based on clean energy; a city that bets on technology but prioritizes people’s well-being, freedom and right to privacy; a city where you breathe clean air; a city that manages waste sustainably and a city where you are in contact with nature to find peace of mind,” he said.

Beyond transport, the Decarbonization Plan also states that by 2050 all of the country will have solutions for the collection, separation, reuse and disposal of waste, and forest cover will be increased to 60 per cent.

Some critics question whether these ambitious plans threaten to derail efforts to halve the fiscal deficit by 2022—a promise made by President Alvarado when he took office in May 2018. Taxes linked to fossil fuels represent more than 11 per cent of the state’s tax revenues.

Authorities say they plan to introduce fiscal reforms, including taxes on pollution, and build on the clean energy potential of the country in order to incentivize green growth and phase out fossil fuels.

Environmental institutional reform will be needed to create modern, digitized and flexible institutions able to manage the transformation. Among the institutions that will be affected are the Costa Rican Petroleum Refinery, the Costa Rican Electricity Institute, the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation and the Public Transportation Council.

With this bold plan, Costa Rica is keen to show the world that clean and green development is possible and profitable. This message is particularly relevant ahead of the United Nations Climate Action Summit on 23 September 2019, when Member States will be asked to outline exactly how they plan to cut emissions.

Costa Rica is also stepping up to take a key role in international climate talks, co-leading the UN Climate Change Conference COP25 in Santiago in December.

Chile is the formal head of the process, but Costa Rica will have a pivotal role in the drive to get states to commit to more ambitious targets.  It will host the preparatory meeting, known as the Pre-COP, in October. The Pre-COP agenda proposed by Costa Rica will focus on three priorities: sustainable cities/mobility, nature-based solutions and the blue economy.

*This figure was updated on 6 February 2020 after consultation with the Ministry of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica.

The 2019 Champion of the Earth for Policy and Leadership goes to Costa Rica. As it battles to preserve its biodiversity, Costa Rica has emerged as a global leader in sustainability, green development and clean energy. The Central American nation is also moving toward carbon neutrality faster than other countries and plans to phase out fossil fuels through new policies and incentives. It has pledged to achieve a zero net emissions economy by 2050.

To learn more, go to: https://www.unenvironment.org/championsofearth/