UNEP Announces the 2009 Champions of the Earth

Thursday, 23 April 2009 05:50

CoolPlanet2009 Cool Friend Yann Arthus-Bertrand among winners.

Six tireless innovators of positive environmental change and an inspirational anti-poverty organization from Africa were today named as the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) 2009 Champions of the Earth.

This year’s winners are: Norwegian Environment Minister Erik Solheim; tropical forest and climate campaigner Kevin Conrad; photographic and public awareness pioneer Yann Arthus-Bertrand; wind power entrepreneur Tulsi Tanti; biomimicry specialist Janine Benyus; recycling innovator Ron Gonen; and the youth-empowering Ethiopian organization Tena Kebena.

All seven laureates gathered in Paris on Earth Day to receive their trophies at a gala event attended by more than 200 personalities from business, politics and civil society.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, who presented the awards to the winners, said: “Today we celebrate and honour seven catalysts of positive environmental change who, through the worlds of politics, business, science, photography, resource efficiency and civil society have challenged the status quo and demonstrated across communities and countries new and transformational solutions to persistent and emerging environmental threats.”

This year, the awards – which are hosted in conjunction with the annual Business for the Environment Summit (B4E) – moved away from geographical distribution to recognize achievements in the areas of Policy Leadership, Science and Innovation, Entrepreneurial Vision, Inspiration and Action, and Next-Generation Champions.

Policy Leadership: Erik Solheim and Kevin Conrad

Erik Solheim, Norway’s Minister of Environment and Minister of Development, has been a key supporter of environmental actions at national and global levels throughout his political career, spearheading for example the early implementation of REDD – Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation.

He also paved the way for Norway’s membership as one of the founders of UNEP’s Climate Neutral Network, catalyzing his country’s action towards a low carbon society.

His fellow laureate Kevin Conrad, the Executive Director of the Coalition of Rainforest Nations, hit the headlines at the 2007 UN Bali climate change talks when he urged the United States to take leadership on climate change.

Inspiration and Action: Yann Arthus-Bertrand

French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand has helped people around the world see our planet in a new light – beautiful, fragile, threatened – through his breathtaking aerial photographs from the remotest parts of the globe.

In 2005, Arthus-Bertrand formed GoodPlanet.org, an environmental organization whose objective is to educate about sustainable development and urge individuals across every culture and background to think about the future of all of our planet’s inhabitants.

Entrepreneurial Vision: Tulsi Tanti and Ron Gonen

Tulsi Tanti is the Chairman and Managing Director of Suzlon Energy, the fifth largest wind turbine manufacturer in the world and the largest in Asia.

His company was an early mover in the multi-billion dollar renewable energy industry,  exploring wind energy in the late 1990s as an alternative to costly and erratic electricity supply to its textile business. Suzlon has successfully demonstrated that renewables are not just a business opportunity for the developed economies, but a major contribution to the sustainable development of the developing world a key element towards a low carbon, Green Economy.

Environmental activist Ron Gonen’s brainchild, RecycleBank, has helped increase recycling to over 90 per cent in many communities across the United States through a reward system.

The company, which has now spread to 18 states, is also working with schools and is running a pilot program with New York City’s Columbia University where special recycling kiosks are set up in cafeterias and dorms. To date, RecycleBank households have diverted thousands of tonnes of recyclables from landfills, saving over 98 million gallons of oil and more than one million trees.

Science and innovation: Janine Benyus

Janine Benyus, the winner in the Science and Innovation category, is a pioneer and champion of the biomimicry movement who is at the helm of the eco-design revolution.

Her 1997 book ‘Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature’ inverts the way we all think about design, industrial processes and areas from pharmaceuticals to energy developments. Ms Benyus’s central theme is that, by unraveling and learning how plants, animals and life-forms like bacteria have evolved over millennia, many of the innovations and solutions to the world’s pressing problems can be found setting the stage for new, biologically-based businesses and jobs.

Next-Generation Champions: Tena Kebena

The Next-Generation Champions category was created to celebrate the new generation of dynamic, passionate individuals and organizations around the world who are making a real difference for the environment. The winners are Tena Kebena, an organization in Ethiopia that brings together around 80 children and youth who have been mostly orphaned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The group cleans up and rehabilitates garbage dumpsites around the city of Addis Ababa through reforestation, turning mountains of trash into hills green with trees, herbs and flowers.

The sites are also used for urban agriculture – on what used to be a waste pile, the young gardeners are churning out lush rows of vegetables through organic methods and waste water collection. And agricultural produce and herbal medicines grown from the urban farm are sold to provide funding for the project and for the children’s learning activities.

Champions of the Earth is an international environment award established in 2004 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The annual prize rewards individuals from around the globe who have made a significant and recognized contribution globally, regionally and beyond, to the protection and sustainable management of the Earth's environment and natural resources. Candidates are judged by a senior UNEP panel with input from UNEP's regional offices.

No monetary reward is attached to the prize -each laureate receives a trophy specially designed for the occasion with environmentally-friendly materials.

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