|
|
|
Congratulations to the 2025
Goldman Environmental Prize
Winners! | |
|
We are honored to
announce the 2025 Goldman Environmental Prize winners.
These grassroots heroes prove that when ordinary people
take action, they have the power to turn apathy into
positive change for the environment. When it comes to
protecting our planet, Goldman Prize winners know that
the doing makes the
difference. | |
|
Semia
Gharbi
Africa /
Tunisia | |
|
Semia Gharbi helped
spearhead a campaign that challenged a corrupt waste
trafficking scheme between Italy and Tunisia, resulting
in the return of 6,000 tons of illegally exported
household waste back to Italy, its country of origin, in
February 2022. More than 40 corrupt government officials
and others involved in waste trafficking in both
countries were arrested in the scandal. Her efforts
spurred policy shifts within the EU, which has now
tightened its procedures and regulations for waste
shipments
abroad. | |
|
Batmunkh
Luvsandash
Asia /
Mongolia | |
|
Determined to protect
his homeland from mining, Batmunkh Luvsandash’s activism
resulted in the creation of a 66,000-acre protected area
in Dornogovi province in April 2022, abutting tens of
thousands of acres already protected by Batmunkh and
allies. Home to Argali sheep, 75% of the world’s
population of endangered Asiatic wild ass, and a wide
variety of endemic plants, the protected area forms an
important bulwark against Mongolia’s mining
boom. | |
|
Besjana Guri and Olsi
Nika
Europe /
Albania | |
|
Besjana Guri and Olsi
Nika’s campaign to protect the Vjosa River from a
hydropower dam development boom resulted in its historic
designation as the Vjosa Wild River National Park by the
Albanian government in March 2023. This
precedent-setting action safeguards not only the
entirety of the Vjosa’s 167 miles—which flow freely
across Albania—but also its free-flowing tributaries,
totaling 250 miles of undisturbed river corridors. The
Vjosa ecosystem is a significant bastion of freshwater
biodiversity that provides critical habitat for several
endangered species. The new national park is both
Albania and Europe’s first to protect a wild
river. | |
|
Carlos Mallo
Molina
Islands & Island Nations /
Canary
Islands | |
|
Carlos Mallo Molina
helped lead a sophisticated, global campaign to prevent
the construction of Fonsalía Port, a massive
recreational boat and ferry terminal that threatened a
biodiverse 170,000-acre marine protected area in the
Canary Islands. Proposed to be built on the island of
Tenerife, the port would have destroyed vital habitat
for endangered sea turtles, whales, and sharks. In
October 2021, because of the campaign, the Canary
Islands government officially canceled the port project.
In lieu of the port, Carlos is now realizing his vision
for a world-class marine conservation and education
center—the first of its kind in the Canary
Islands. | |
|
Laurene
Allen
North America / United
States | |
|
When one of the largest
environmental crises in New England’s history was
exposed in her own community, Laurene Allen stepped up
to protect thousands of families affected by
contaminated drinking water. Laurene’s campaign
pressured an industrial giant—responsible for leaking
toxic forever chemicals into community drinking water
sources—to announce its closure in August 2023. The
plant’s closure in May 2024 marked an end to more than
20 years of rampant air, soil, and water
pollution. | |
|
Mari Luz Canaquiri
Murayari
South & Central America /
Peru | |
|
In March 2024, Mari Luz
Canaquiri Murayari and Asociación de Mujeres Huaynakana
Kamatahuara Kana—a Kukama women’s association for which
she serves as president—won a landmark rights of nature
court decision to protect the Marañón River in Peru. For
the first time in the country’s history, a river was
granted legal personhood—with the right to be
free-flowing and free of contamination. After finding
the Peruvian government in violation of the river’s
inherent rights, the court ordered the government to
take immediate action to prevent future oil spills into
the river, mandated the creation of a basin-wide
protection plan, and recognized the Kukama as stewards
of the
river. | |
|
Upcoming Events with the
Goldman
Prize | |
Celebrate
the Goldman Prize Winners
On Monday, April
21, at 5:30 pm PDT / 8:30 pm EDT, tune in to watch the
2025 Goldman Prize
ceremony. | |
Attend an
Earth Day Panel & Reception
On
Tuesday, April 22, at 6:00 pm PDT, attend a special
in-person event co-hosted with Climate One
at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. 2025 Goldman
Prize winners Laurene Allen and Carlos Mallo Molina will
share their stories of determination and action
firsthand. | |
Learn about
River Protection
On Wednesday, April 23,
at 2:00 pm PDT / 5:00 pm EDT, watch an online
discussion co-hosted with International
Rivers and featuring 2025 Goldman Prize winners Mari
Luz Canaquiri Murayari, Besjana Guri, and Olsi
Nika. | |
Spread the word about
this year’s Prize winners by sharing their stories on
social media, and follow the Prize on Facebook, Instagram,
and LinkedIn. Show your support by
using the hashtags #GoldmanPrize and
#TheDoingMakesTheDifference. | | |
|
|
|
|
|
The Goldman Environmental
Prize, administered by the Goldman Environmental
Foundation, is the world's foremost award honoring
grassroots environmental activists. Learn more: goldmanprize.org | | |
Copyright © 2025 Goldman Environmental
Prize, All rights reserved.
You are receiving
this email because you are part of the Goldman
Environmental Prize community.
Our mailing
address is:
| | | |
