WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The UN Environment Program has announced recipients of the 2024 Champions of the Earth award, honored for their outstanding leadership, brave actions, and sustainable solutions to tackle land degradation, drought and desertification.
This year's laureates include a minister of Indigenous Peoples, an environmental defender, a sustainable agriculture initiative, an Indigenous rights advocate, a scientist focused on afforestation, and a pioneering ecologist.
The annual Champions of the Earth award, the UN's highest environmental honor, recognizes trailblazers at the forefront of efforts to protect people and planet.
Sonia Guajajara, Brazil's Minister of Indigenous Peoples, was honoured in the Policy Leadership category. Amy Bowers Cordalis, an Indigenous rights advocate, received the award in the Inspiration and Action category.
Gabriel Paun, a Romanian environmental defender, was honored in the Inspiration and Action category. Paun is the founder of Agent Green, a non-governmental organization (NGO) which has been helping save thousands of hectares of precious biodiversity in the Carpathians since 2009 by exposing the destruction and illegal logging of Europe's last old growth forest.
Madhav Gadgil, an Indian ecologist was named as the laureate in the Lifetime Achievement category. He has spent decades protecting people and the planet through research and community engagement.
The SEKEM initiative in Egypt was honored in the Entrepreneurial Vision category for helping farmers transition to more sustainable agriculture.
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