Goldman Environmental Prize Blog

Dear Goldman Prize community, It has been my honor and privilege to serve as the Communications Coordinator for the Goldman Prize over the last five years. It is with deep gratitude that I announce today, August 12, 2015 will be my last day at the Prize. For my final blog, I want to take the opportunity…

Last week we told readers what to look out for when shopping around for an environmentally friendly vacation. We flagged greenwashing and green grabbing as troublesome tactics used by the travel industry to lure travelers. This week we are spotlighting examples of Goldman Prize winners who are engaged in authentic, sustainable ecotourism activities that benefit…

Over the years, society has grown more environmentally sensitive and consumers are becoming more and more interested in using their purchasing power for good. Industries from grocery stores and fast food chains to beauty products and household goods have jumped on the bandwagon, labeling their products “all natural” and “eco-friendly,” regardless of whether or not…

For the first time, the Goldman Environmental Prize and the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund (the Federation) have partnered on a pilot grantmaking program for international organizations committed to grassroots environmental change. The 12 grantees are past Goldman Environmental Prize winners that have applied for new programmatic grants. A total of $484,700 was…

Last month, 2015 Goldman Prize winner Howard Wood celebrated a victory when Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, announced that a Marine Conservation Order (MCO) has been put before Scottish parliament setting out conservation measures that include banning the highly destructive practice of scallop dredging within the South Arran Marine Protected…

In the third and final part of our three part series on environmental justice and environmental racism, we hear from 2013 Goldman Prize winner Kimberly Wasserman about her successful campaign to shut down two of the country’s oldest and dirtiest coal plants that were polluting her Latino community of Little Village. She is now leading…

Last week we discussed how communities of color and low-income communities are more likely to live next to highly polluting facility and therefore bear a disproportionate burden of toxic contamination compared to whiter and more affluent communities. In the foreword written for Steve Lerner’s book on fenceline communities titled “Sacrifice Zones: The Front Lines of…

The problem of racial profiling in America relates to more than just police brutality and the senseless acts of violence that have recently captured the national spotlight. Race also plays a determining role in environmental policies regarding land use, zoning and regulations. As a result, African American, Latino, Indigenous and low-income communities are more likely…

2015 Goldman Prize winner Howard Wood spearheaded a campaign that established the first community-developed Marine Protected Area in Scotland. Just last week, Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, announced that a Marine Conservation Order (MCO) will be put before Scottish parliament setting out conservation measures that include banning the highly destructive…

As part of our pilot grant making program, the Goldman Prize recently awarded a grant to 1994 Goldman Prize winner Heffa Schucking and her organization Urgewald to support their campaign to influence European banks and government institutions to cease financing for coal related projects. Urgewald works to monitor the international environmental impacts of investments by…