April 19, 2016
We hope you enjoyed hearing the stories of the six winners of the 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize in San Francisco!
This year, we were delighted to once again welcome award-winning journalist Dana King as our Master of Ceremonies. Our veteran narrator, Robert Redford, again provided the incredibly moving voice-over for the Prize winner profile videos.
The most poignant difference during this year’s ceremony, was the tribute paid to Berta Cáceres following her assassination on March 3, 2016. Three indigenous women poets gave a stirring performance of spoken word poetry, dedicated to her life and legacy.
We were proud to have Aztec dance group Calpulli Tonalehqueh provide a dance performance in the middle of the ceremony.
We heard some powerful words from the 2016 Prize winners, one of whom — Máxima Acuña — sang her own song, telling the story of her resistance to the second-largest gold mining companies in the world:
“I was attacked by the police and the company’s security team […] I will never kneel before Yanacocha!” Máxima Acuña.
You can relive the celebration of these six extraordinary heroes by watching the video of the full ceremony.
“If we seek to achieve environmental justice we must first empower citizen participation and protect our natural resources.” Luis Jorge Rivera Herrera.
We hope that you have been inspired to join their campaigns, ensuring the protection of their environment, and the communities that depend on it. Discover their stories, and how you can get involved here.
