• 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/

The 2019 Champion of the Earth for Inspiration and Action goes to Ant Forest. The program was launched in August 2016 and promotes greener lifestyles by inspiring users to reduce carbon emissions in their daily lives. Every time they do, Ant Forest rewards them with 'green energy' points, which can be used to plan a real tree.

Described as China's largest private sector tree-planting initiative, Ant Forest covers over 500 million people, and already it has led to the planting of around 100 million trees in China's frontier region, covering an area equivalent to 130,000 football pitches.

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

• Ant Forest, awarded United Nations’ top environmental honour in inspiration and action category
• Ant Forest recognized for inspiring consumers to reduce their carbon footprint, resulting in China’s largest private sector tree-planting initiative

19 September 2019 -- Ant Forest, a green initiative, has received a 2019 Champions of the Earth award, the UN’s highest environmental honour, for turning the green good deeds of half a billion people into real trees planted in some of China’s most arid regions. 

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recognized Ant Forest in the ‘Inspiration and Action’ category.

Launched by Ant Financial Services Group, an Alibaba affiliate, Ant Forest promotes greener lifestyles by inspiring users to reduce carbon emissions in their daily lives and better protect the environment. 

Ant Forest users are encouraged to record their low-carbon footprint through daily actions like taking public transport or paying utility bills online. For each action, they receive ‘green energy’ points and when they accumulate a certain number of points, an actual tree is planted. Users can view images of their trees in real-time via satellite. In addition to tree-planting, users can choose to protect certain size of conservation land on Ant Forest platform, which is also exploring innovative solutions to alleviate poverty and improve the lives of local people by leveraging the power of digital technology. 

Since its launch in August 2016, Ant Forest and its NGO partners have planted around 122 million trees in some of China’s driest areas, including in arid regions in Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Qinghai and Shanxi. The trees cover an area of 112,000 hectares (1.68 million mu); the project has become China’s largest private sector tree-planting initiative. 

“Ant Forest shows how technology can transform our world by harnessing the positive energy and innovation of global users,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. 

“Although the environmental challenges we face are daunting, we have the technology and the knowledge to overcome them and fundamentally redesign how we interact with the planet. Initiatives like Ant Forest tap into the best of human ingenuity and innovation to create a better world,” she said.

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 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 Sustainable Development Goals. 

The Summit will focus on developing ambitious solutions in specific areas: a global transition to renewable energy; sustainable and resilient infrastructures and cities; resilience and adaptation to climate impacts; alignment of public and private finance with a net zero economy; and sustainable agriculture and management of forests and oceans.

Ant Forest’s recognition as a Champion of the Earth highlights the importance of ecosystem restoration in reducing the emissions fuelling climate change. In March, the United Nations underlined the urgent need to protect the natural systems that sustain life by declaring the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration from 2021-2030. 

“We are truly honoured to receive this Champions of the Earth award,” said Eric Jing, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ant Financial. “Alipay Ant Forest reflects our belief that technology can and should be harnessed for social good. We are grateful to our many users and partners who have joined our efforts to plant 122 million trees and advance a shared vision of sustainable and inclusive development. Alipay Ant Forest’s popularity shows that the public is ready to take action to combat climate change,” he said.

Champions of the Earth is the UN’s flagship global environmental award. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) established the award 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. 

Ant Forest 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.

The Champions of the Earth awards have previously recognised Chinese innovations and change-makers, particularly in the fields of tackling pollution and desertification. In 2018, the Zhejiang Green Rural Revival Programme won the award for inspiration and action for its work to regenerate polluted waterways and damaged lands; and in 2017, the Saihanba Afforestation Community was recognised in the inspiration and action category for transforming degraded land on the southern edge of Inner Mongolia into a lush paradise.  

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 and Media, UN Environment Programme

Paul Polman’s words come in a rush and it’s little wonder. The former head of consumer goods giant Unilever believes the world needs to totally redesign the way growth and financial success are measured to unlock the potential of a sustainable future. And that’s a task that should have started yesterday.

“When an oil spill grows your gross domestic product while keeping your water clean doesn’t help your gross domestic product, there’s something fundamentally wrong,” said the Dutch businessman whose pioneering policies put sustainability and social good at the heart of Unilever’s corporate strategy.

“We need to redesign what well-being looks like and create other measures of success. It also means we have to look at different patterns of production, which would be patterns of growth and wealth creation that don’t use the same amount of resources,” he said.

During more than a decade as Chief Executive Officer of Unilever, Polman always dared to do things differently, working to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation and increase Unilever’s positive social impact. He was recognized with a Champions of the Earth award, the United Nation’s top environmental honour, in 2015 for his entrepreneurial vision.

Polman officially stepped down as CEO at the beginning of the year but he is continuing his mission to put sustainability at the heart of global business models. He is Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce and The B Team, Vice-Chair of the UN Global Compact and Co-Chair of the Food and Land Use Coalition, among other roles.

If anything, his passion has intensified because he knows time is running short.

“The challenge we have is the speed and scale at which we are moving; we are not moving fast enough,” he said. “I’ve always called this a crisis of morality, and the real question we have to ask is: do we really care? I believe we have many of the answers to solve the issues of water shortage, climate change or food security and yet we are collectively unable to move at the speed and scale that we need.”

Polman says that although many businesses and citizens have grasped the need for urgent action, some governments are still dragging their feet.

“Very few countries are upping their national commitments (to cut emissions) to a scale that is sufficient, and very few countries of scale have put forward plans that are sufficient to stay at 1.5˚C or what we call net zero by 2050,” he said.

Polman hopes that global leaders will show more ambition at a pivotal United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York on 23 September. UN Secretary-General António Guterres 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 Sustainable Development Goals.

“We need to get higher ambitions and we need to understand the urgency of these ambitions,” Polman says. “Even staying below 2 ˚C requires us to cut absolute carbon emissions by 40 per cent over the next 20 years. And if you take into account a doubling of the global economy over that period, you actually need, per unit of output, about an 80 per cent reduction.”

Given that some governments are reluctant to drive the necessary radical change, Polman says other sectors of society must step up and essentially de-risk the process by showing that voters, businesses and others are ready to embrace that transformation.

There are signs that this is happening: states and cities are working together to tackle climate change while some industries are reinventing their core businesses, for example car manufacturers seeking to phase out combustion engines.

Financial markets also need to play their part and Polman says that is happening with, for example, initiatives such as the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures.

For this former business tycoon, the figures don’t lie. He cites last year’s report by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, which he co-chairs; it calculated that the global economy could be boosted by about US$26 trillion by 2030 by transitioning to a cleaner, more sustainable world economy.

“With limited investment, estimated at 1 or 2 per cent of gross domestic product, we can not only avoid disaster but more importantly probably embark on the biggest economic and job growth opportunity we’ve ever seen,” he said.

To help firms seize these new opportunities, Polman is working directly with the business community through IMAGINE—his new foundation and for-benefit corporation. IMAGINE aims to create positive tipping points within industries to spur faster action on climate change and inequality to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Polman set up IMAGINE in July alongside businesswoman Valerie Keller and Jeff Seabright, Unilever’s former chief sustainability officer, and the idea is to work with “leading CEOs” across the value chain to unite and develop specific targets for change.

Already, IMAGINE was involved in bringing together more than 30 global fashion companies, including Kering—the owner of Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen—as well as H&M and Zara’s parent company to agree a global pact to fight climate change and do more to protect the planet’s vital ecosystems.

Polman says those involved represent over 30 per cent of the fashion industry, adding that at that level, governments start to take notice. IMAGINE’s role is to create a neutral space for these kinds of deals to be achieved, he said.

Polman counts environmental defenders, indigenous peoples and the motivated youth among his climate champions but he hopes to soon be able to add business leaders, who transform their industries to deliver sustainable development, to that list.

For Polman, the power of the individual to bring about change is paramount.

“The thing we need is willpower and that itself is a renewable resource. That’s why I always say we need more leaders and more trees if we want to solve the world’s issues.”

• Canadian climate scientist Professor Katharine Hayhoe awarded United Nations’ flagship environmental honor in science and innovation category
• Hayhoe recognized for expertise and passion in communicating real effects of climate change

16 September 2019 -- Canadian climate scientist Professor Katharine Hayhoe has received a 2019 Champions of the Earth award, the UN’s highest environmental honor, for her stalwart commitment to quantifying the effects of climate change and her tireless efforts to transform public attitudes. 

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recognized Hayhoe in the science and innovation category.

Hayhoe is a climate scientist, a professor in the Department of Political Science at Texas Tech University and director of the Climate Center. Her research has informed climate resilience and enriched climate policy at a federal and local level across the U.S. and beyond. 

She is also one of the world’s most influential communicators on the reality of climate change and is widely respected for her ability to help people connect the dots between what they already care about and how they will be affected by a changing climate. 

Hayhoe has served as a lead author for many key climate reports, including the US Global Change Research Program’s Second, Third, and Fourth National Climate Assessments. She has also led climate impact assessments for a broad cross-section of cities and regions that enable stakeholders to build resilience to climate impacts on food, water, and infrastructure and to quantify the benefits of climate mitigation at the local to regional scale.

“Professor Katharine Hayhoe has made it her life’s work to study the effects of climate change and communicate these as widely as possible in order to inspire action from both policy makers and citizens,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP.

“As we redouble our efforts to mitigate the worst effects of climate change, we need passionate, informed change-makers to guide us to a more sustainable future. With her expertise and indefatigable energy, Professor Hayhoe is already showing us the way.” Andersen said.

The need for radical global action on climate change will be highlighted at a pivotal United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York on 23 September. UN Secretary-General António Guterres 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 Sustainable Development Goals. 

Hayhoe, who is married to pastor and author Andrew Farley, has won a host of awards for her work including the eighth Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication in 2018. She was also named one of TIME’s 100 most influential people in 2014 and listed among Foreign Policy’s 100 Global Thinkers twice, in 2014 and again in 2019.

“I am truly honoured and humbled to receive this recognition from the United Nations,” said Hayhoe, who has also been named one of FORTUNE’s 50 greatest leaders and has received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service award. 

“The award offers real encouragement to those of us working every day to spread the message that climate change is real and that we need to act now to deal with it. Together, keeping up the pressure, we can prevail, because we already have the technology and knowledge to make the necessary changes, all we’re missing is the will” Hayhoe said.

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

Hayhoe is among five winners this year. The other categories are policy leadership; inspiration and action; and entrepreneurial vision. 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 science and innovation Champions of the Earth award include Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat in 2018 for producing a sustainable alternative to beef burgers; Australian designer Leyla Acaroglu in 2016 for her work on sustainability; and leading atmospheric chemist Sir Robert Watson in 2014.

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, UNEP News & Media, +254 722 677747

From the Arctic to the Amazon, wildfires have been burning, devastating storms are becoming more frequent, a million species risk extinction, and our oceans are being poisoned: the planet’s life support systems are under threat like never before.

The world’s critical ecosystems need our help. Scientists warn that we could be headed towards tipping points that might produce a cascading collapse of natural systems if we do not act now.

This is something environmental defenders have long understood, with many putting their lives on the line to defend vital ecosystems and the indigenous peoples who protect them.

At a pivotal Climate Action Summit in New York on 23 September 2019, the UN Environment Programme will join expected calls for stronger protections for the earth’s forests and for the environmental defenders who, despite the risks, have stepped forward to make a difference.

Some of these earth defenders have been honoured with the UN Environment Programme’s flagship Champions of the Earth award for their indefatigable dedication to the natural world. Here we look at five of these environmental heroes.

Fearless campaigner who gave her life to protect her land: Berta Cáceres

2016 laureate for inspiration and action

Before she was shot dead in 2016, Berta Cáceres spent years battling for the rights of marginalized indigenous peoples in her native Honduras. Her death, aged 44, sparked global anger at the unacceptable levels of violence and intimidation facing environmental activists.

Cáceres, who was a member of the indigenous Lenca group, grew up in La Esperanza, where she learned about compassion and action from her mother, a midwife and social activist who took in and cared for refugees from El Salvador.

In 1993 as a student-activist, Cáceres co-founded the Civic Council of Popular Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) to push for the territorial rights of indigenous peoples.

In the early 2000s, she began campaigning against the multi-million-dollar Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam on the Gualcarque river, which the Lenca community consider sacred. Locals worried the dam would harm their livelihoods and deprive them of food and medicines. Cáceres argued that the project was going ahead without proper consultation.

After a year-long peaceful blockade of the site, some international investors withdrew from the project in 2013. Meanwhile, Cáceres had reported an increasing number of death threats.

In 2015, Cáceres won the prestigious Goldman prize for environmental defenders but international accolades could not protect her: assailants broke into her home in La Esperanza in March 2016 and shot her dead. In November 2018, seven men were convicted of her murder.

In an interview with the Guardian in 2015, Cáceres explained what kept her going: a statement that will resonate with activists everywhere.

“We must undertake the struggle in all parts of the world, wherever we may be, because we have no other spare or replacement planet. We have only this one, and we have to take action.”

The musician on a mission to create a natural symphony: Martha Isabel Ruiz Corzo

2013 laureate for inspiration and action

A former teacher and accomplished musician, Martha Isabel Ruiz Corzo, known as Pati, has dedicated her life to composing a complex symphony of development in the Sierra Gorda in central Mexico, achieving Biosphere Reserve status for this ecological treasure.

A firm believer in the importance of linking natural capital to financial capital, Pati set up the Sierra Gorda Ecological Group with her husband and friends in 1987. Ten years later, they successfully lobbied for the creation of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, which now covers 33 per cent of Querétaro state.

Over the past 25 years, Pati and her colleagues have engaged more than 34,000 people in community environmental education programmes, solid waste management, soil restoration, product diversification and conservation. Six million trees have also been planted in the reserve which includes nearly 1 million acres of protected land with more than 2,200 species of plants, mammals and birds.

Central to Pati’s philosophy is the idea of turning local communities into environmental service providers who earn part of their living from protecting their ecosystems. She has proven skilled at creating public-private partnerships to fulfil her vision.

Pati says she is inspired by the planet and the “precious treasure” of the Sierra Gorda.

“The Sierra Gorda means everything in my life, for my heart, for my brain, for my time. I’m ready to serve this Biosphere,” she says.

Samson Parashina

2012 laureate for grassroots initiative

When Samson Parashina was growing up as a young Maasai in Kenya’s Chyulu Hills, he dreamed of working at the nearby ecotourism lodge, Campi ya Kanzi, founded by Italians Luca Belpietro and Antonella Bonomi with the support of the local community.

Parashina, the son of a chief, became a waiter, then a professional safari guide, and finally ended up as general manager of the lodge. In 2000, Belpietro and Bonomi founded the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust (MWCT) and Parashina became president.

The Trust works to protect the ecosystems and biodiversity of East Africa through conservation that directly benefits Maasai communities. It works in the Chyulu Hills, within the Amboseli-Tsavo Ecosystem, which boasts three national parks. The Maasai communities own the land between the protected parks, and their territories contain critical wildlife corridors and habitat reserves, forests that are carbon sinks and rivers and springs that supply water to millions of Kenyans.

The Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust brings together professional conservationists and dynamic Maasai leaders to operate programmes that enable the Maasai to reap sustainable economic benefits from conserving their unique ecosystems. It trains community rangers to monitor wildlife, supports education and healthcare facilities, and nurtures young local leaders.

Parashina negotiates all agreements with local leaders, and he is proud of how the Trust has improved the lives of his people. His work places him at the intersection of the past and the future, and he is aware of the need for everyone to adjust to our changing world.

“The Maasai have been here for centuries. They have to adapt to the changing climate by creating new green jobs and protect the flora and fauna to create a future for the generations to come,” he says.

The pioneer who converted her passion into public service: Izabella Teixeira

2013 laureate for policy leadership

In the 1980s, when the environmental movement was still in its infancy, Izabella Teixeira was already something of a visionary, determined to dedicate her life to protecting nature. Since then, she has brought her passion for sustainable use of resources to the upper echelons of the Brazilian government.

After studying biological sciences and energy planning, she joined the Secretariat of the Environment in the State of Pará, a precursor to the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama).

She became Deputy Minister of the Environment in 2008, and then served as Minister of the Environment from 2010 until 2016, guiding Brazil through some of the most significant global negotiations on environmental issues, including the talks on the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in 2015.

One of her biggest ministerial achievements was helping reverse the deforestation of the Amazon, a significant initiative towards mitigating the worst effects of climate change. The annual loss of forests fell from 27,772 km² in 2004 to 4,571 km² in 2012.

Her policies regarding land use also resulted in the creation of 250,000 km² of conservation areas. She also structured a comprehensive national policy on climate change, engaging with key economic sectors such as energy, agriculture and industry.

After leaving office, she was elected co-chair of the influential International Resource Panel, contributing to the landmark 2019 Global Resources Outlook, which found that rapid growth in extraction of materials is the chief culprit in climate change and biodiversity loss.

Zhejiang Green Rural Revival Programme

2018 laureate for inspiration and action

Zhejiang province in eastern China perfectly encapsulates the dilemma facing mankind: how to progress economically without draining vital resources and leaving an environmental mess behind? Rapid industrial development in Zhejiang turned it into an economic powerhouse but the environment paid a heavy price.

Sewage and industrial waste water ran freely into rivers, turning the water black. Sometimes children who played in the water got skin diseases. Rubbish piled up across the province.

In 2005, China’s President Xi Jinping, who was then Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party committee, launched the Zhejiang Green Rural Revival Programme, saying: “We do not promote economic development at the expense of the environment. Clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets.”

The regeneration project revolved around water management, waste management and recycling, and community involvement was key. Around 61,000 river chiefs were appointed to manage and protect all water bodies. Eighty per cent of historic buildings were restored with water, sanitation and electrical infrastructure overhauled to improve efficiency.

Today, 97 per cent of villages in Zhejiang have transformed their polluted rivers into clean, drinkable water. The programme was chosen as a Champion of the Earth because it showed the transformative power of economic and environmental development together.