The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) received close to 2,200 nominations for its annual Champions of the Earth award in 2022, a new record. The UN’s highest environmental honour recognizes individuals and organizations from a number of fields, including civil society, academia and the private sector, that are blazing a trail in their efforts to protect our natural world.
To highlight the importance of ecosystem restoration, nominations of pioneers whose transformative action is healing our planet were encouraged, affirming that humanity has the ingenuity and ambition to protect the environment and reverse ecosystem degradation. This follows last year’s official launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a rallying call to urgently protect and revive ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean. This year’s laureates will be announced on 22 November 2022.
Ecosystems support all life on Earth yet face grave threats. Every year the planet loses forest cover equivalent to the size of Portugal, with disastrous consequences for the climate crisis and biodiversity. Oceans are being polluted and overfished, with 11 million tonnes of plastic ending up in marine environments annually.
Yet the challenge is not insurmountable. People around the world are stepping forward every day to pioneer innovative ways to restore nature and secure a healthy planet for future generations. The Champions of the Earth are helping to lead that push. Their initiatives confront the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss and pollution and waste. They are a reminder that environmental sustainability is key to achieving sustainable development.
The Champions of the Earth award will celebrate visionaries in three categories:
The award recognizes individuals and groups who are taking transformative action to change the world. To date, 106 laureates, ranging from heads of state to community activists, to captains of industry, to pioneering scientists, have been honoured as Champions of the Earth. Last year’s laureates included Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, The Sea Women of Melanesia, Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka from Uganda and Maria Kolesnikova from the Kyrgyz Republic.
In April 2022, Sir David Attenborough was recognized with the prestigious Champions of the Earth Lifetime Achievement award.
UNEP coordinates and hosts the Champions of the Earth award. UNEP’s reputation as the global, non-partisan authority on environmental issues is built from 50 years of ground-breaking scientific research that informs global environmental policy.
About the UNEP Champions of the Earth
UNEP’s Champions of the Earth honours individuals, groups, and organizations whose actions have a transformative impact on the environment. The annual Champions of the Earth award is the UN’s highest environmental honour. It recognizes outstanding leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector.
About the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
The UN General Assembly has declared the years 2021 through 2030 the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Led by UNEP and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN, together with the support of partners, it is designed to prevent, halt, and reverse the loss and degradation of ecosystems worldwide. It aims at reviving billions of hectares, covering terrestrial as well as aquatic ecosystems. A global call to action, the UN Decade draws together political support, scientific research, and financial muscle to massively scale up restoration.
