Goldman Environmental Prize Blog

We celebrate the contributions of Black leaders to the environmental movement in the United States and around the world. Join us in learning about some of their stories. Sharon Lavigne Environmental justice advocate Sharon Lavigne (United States, 2021) successfully stopped the construction of a $1.25 billion plastics manufacturing plant in St. James Parish, Louisiana. The…

The Goldman Environmental Prize is excited to share that the 2024 Prize winners will be announced on Monday, April 29. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Goldman Prize. The Prize winners will be celebrated at live ceremonies following Earth Week: in San Francisco on Monday, April 29, and in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, May 1. The…

Happy New Year to our global community. It’s often said that optimism in the face of daunting odds is a prerequisite for all environmentalists. So, in a very challenging year for both environmentalists and humanity in general, I want to focus on what brings us hope in the coming months. For us, the antidote to…

2023 was a banner year at the Goldman Environmental Prize, marked by the return to in-person ceremonies and attendance at climate weeks and summits around the world. Join us in reflecting on our favorite moments. 1. The 2023 Goldman Environmental Prize Winner Announcement The 2023 Goldman Prize winners were announced in April: Diane Wilson from…

Uniting Grassroots Leaders from around the World Today we are celebrating the end to a busy fall season, which brought the Goldman Environmental Prize to five regional climate events and summits around the world. Over the course of the past three months, in five different countries, the Goldman Prize convened 21 Prize winners across five…

Last week, the Goldman Environmental Prize gathered in Panama for Latin America and the Caribbean Climate Week. Five Prize winners were in attendance: Ruth Buendía (Peru, 2014), Leydy Pech (Mexico, 2020), Liz Chicaje Churay (Peru, 2021), and Alexandra Narvaez and Alex Lucitante (Ecuador, 2022). For those who won the Goldman Prize during the COVID-19 pandemic,…

From October 11 – 13, three Goldman Environmental Prize winners attended the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Leaders Forum in Geneva, Switzerland. The three-day conference convened global leaders and experts in policy, finance, and science to discuss how to protect and restore biodiversity across various sectors. Prize winners in attendance were Howard…

On Sunday, September 17, Goldman Prize winners from all around the world participated in New York City’s March to End Fossil Fuels. The march was the kickoff to New York Climate Week, a whirlwind of a week full of networking, learning, and storytelling for the fight against climate change. Throughout the week, Goldman Prize winners played…

Last week, representatives from the Goldman Environmental Prize attended Africa Climate Week in Nairobi, Kenya. The week was a kickoff for many upcoming climate events this fall, and an opportunity to convene regional Prize winners as well as those unable to travel to the US during the Covid-19 pandemic. Enjoy this photo journal from an impactful week. At…

Zafer Kizilkaya of Turkey won the 2023 Goldman Environmental Prize for his successful efforts to establish an expansive network of marine reserves off the Turkish coast. But his marine conservation expertise extends far beyond the Mediterranean. For many years prior to his campaign in Turkey, Zafer worked as a marine biologist and National Geographic underwater…