Goldman Environmental Prize Blog

An alarming new report by Global Witness (an environmental and human rights NGO) reveals that environmental activists are being killed at a rate of one per week. According to an article on The Guardian about the report, last month was one of the deadliest for Filipino activists, while environmental defenders working in the America’s face…

Indigenous groups from around the world, including Japan and the Philippines, gathered yesterday to deliver a resolution to UN delegates at Rio+20. Goldman Prize staff was on site as the groups marched in solidarity to the Rio Center, the official site of the UN summit. A group of leaders representing the various indigenous groups met…

A wet and rainy day in Rio did not dampen activists’ spirits. Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets, as the UN Sustainable Development summit got underway on Wednesday. Protests of every variety now fill the city, spotlighting everything from environmental protection to economic reform. Goldman Prize staff members Melina Selverston-Scher and Jenny Park had the opportunity…

Goldman Prize staff members Melina Selverston-Scher and Jenny Park spent yesterday at the People’s summit in Rio de Janeiro. Touted as the ‘counter conference,’ the People’s summit departs from the ‘suit and tie’ formality of the UN conference and offers a more relaxed, grassroots forum for alternative ideas and discussion. An outlet for idealism, radical…

Yesterday evening, nearly 70 Goldman Prize recipients, nominators, staff and colleagues gathered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to celebrate grassroots environmentalism and to support the work of all Goldman Prize recipients. The reception, hosted by the Goldman Environmental Foundation, also helped to reinforce the unified voice of Prize winners calling on world leaders to make…

Eight Goldman Prize recipients from the Asia-Pacific region recently participated in a symposium hosted by the Korea Green Foundation to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Korean Environmental Movement. Yul Choi, 1995 Goldman Prize recipient and President of the Korea Green Foundation, welcomed MC Mehta (1996), Dai Qing (1993), Prigi Arisandi (2011), Noah Idechong (1995),…

We are thrilled to announce that our partners at Mill Valley Film Group took home their third Emmy Award for The New Environmentalists, a short film featuring the work of the 2011 Goldman Prize winners: Ursula Sladek, Dmitry Lisitsyn, Prigi Arisandi, Hilton Kelley, Raoul du Toit and Francisco Pineda. The 41st Annual Northern California Area Emmy Awards took…

On June 1st, 2012, Maria Gunnoe, 2009 Goldman Environmental Prize winner and tireless champion of Appalachian environmental and human rights, arrived at the Capitol building in Washington, DC. She was there at the invitation of Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-CO) to testify before the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources about the environmental impact of…

Medha Patkar, 1992 Goldman Prize recipient from India, was recently arrested for protesting against the forced eviction of the indigenous Koliwada fisher people from their traditional land in Mumbai. Koli fisherfolk have inhabited the seven islands that form Mumbai as far back as the 2nd century BC. Today, police forces and construction crews are demolishing…

Recipients of the Goldman Environmental Prize, the world’s largest award for grassroots environmental activists, are calling on world leaders to attend the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro and make real commitments to protect the environment. A total of 107 Goldman Prize winners, representing a broad spectrum of environmental activists—indigenous  leaders, attorneys,…