Champions of the Earth Award 2018

Outstanding environmental changemakers receive UN’s “Champions of the Earth Award 2018”

The Champions of the Earth Awards, the UN’s highest environmental honor, will be presented to six outstanding environmental changemakers.

The champions are recognized for their achievements in the categories including Policy Leadership, Entrepreneurial Vision, Science and Innovation, Inspiration and Action, and Lifetime Achievement.

Six of the world’s most outstanding environmental changemakers will be recognized with a Champions of the Earth Award, the UN’s highest environmental honor. This years’ laureates are recognized for a combination of bold, innovative, and tireless efforts to tackle some of the most urgent environmental issues of our times.

The winners of the 2018 Champions of the Earth Awards are:

• Joan Carlingis recognized with the lifetime achievement award for her work as one of the world’s most prominent defenders of environmental and indigenous rights. Carling has been at the forefront of the conflict for land and the environment for more than 20 years. Her tireless and selfless fight for the environment has made her a champion to peoples and communities all over the globe.

• Beyond Meat and Impossible Foodsare jointly recognized in the Science and Innovation category, for their revolutionary development of a popular, plant-based alternative to beef, and for their efforts to educate consumers about environmentally conscious alternatives.

• Emmanuel Macron, President of Franceand Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, are recognized in the Policy Leadership category for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action, including Macron’s work on the Global Pact for the Environment and Modi’s unprecedented pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in India by 2022.

• China’s Zhejiang’s Green Rural Revival Programmeis awarded for Inspiration and Action for the transformation of a once heavily polluted area of rivers and streams in East China’s Zhejiang province. This exceptionally successful eco-restoration program shows the transformative power of economic and environmental development together.

• Cochin International Airportwill take home the award for Entrepreneurial Vision, for its leadership in the use of sustainable energy. Cochin is showing the world that our ever-expanding network of global movement doesn’t have to harm the environment. As the pace of society continues to increase, the world’s first fully solar-powered airport is proof positive that green business is good business.