UNEP recognises five individuals for environmental protection actions
The United Nations Environmental Programme has conferred Champions of the Earth recognition on five individuals for their transformative actions in preventing, halting, or reversing ecosystem degradation.
UNEP’s annual Champions of the Earth award is the UN’s highest environmental honour, which recognises individuals and organisations from a number of fields, including civil society, academia and the private sector, that are blazing a trail in protecting the natural environment.
UNEP selected the winners from nearly 2,200 nominations according to its website. A conservationist, a sustainable waste management enterprise, a women’s rights activist and a wildlife biologist were the winners of the 2022 Champions of the Earth. In the Inspiration and Action category, three winners were announced. Arcenciel, a non-profit won the accolade for its efforts in two decades of managing waste in the Middle Eastern nation of Lebanon.
Robin Richa, General Manager, Arcenciel said, “We identified lots of problems affecting the environment and especially the community and the health of society. We have tried to be strategic in identifying activities where we can make a sustainable impact.”
Cécile Bibiane Ndjebet, Co-Founder, Cameroon Ecology and President, African Women’s Network for Community Management of Forests was recognised for her actions in repairing the damage from deforestation, drought in wetlands, and excessive river pollution. “I realized that women were struggling a lot, recalled Ms. Ndjebet, expressing her desire to “advocate for these rural women, to improve their lives.”
Other winners in the category were Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos for planting three million trees in Peru and restoring and protecting 30,000 hectares of land; and Purnima Devi Barman, a wildlife biologist for her work in protecting adjutant stork and empowering thousands of women, creating entrepreneurs and improving livelihoods.
Partha Dasgupta was selected for making ground-breaking contributions to the need for protecting ecosystems by using her proficiency in economics. Since its inception in 2005, the annual Champions of the Earth award has been given to trailblazers at the forefront of efforts to protect our natural world. To date, the award has recognised 111 laureates: 26 world leaders, 69 individuals and 16 organisations.
