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Former IUCN President Joins Goldman Prize Jury
October 1, 2008
October 1, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO, October 1, 2008 —Yolanda Kakabadse, an internationally-recognized environmental leader, has joined the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize jury. Formerly serving as President of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and Minister of Environment for Ecuador, Kakabadse brings significant knowledge of global environmental issues to the Goldman Prize selection process.
The Goldman Environmental Prize, the world’s largest prize for grassroots environmental leaders, is selected annually by a jury consisting of key environmental policy makers and stakeholders and members of the Goldman family. In addition to Kakabadse, the jury now includes: Richard N. Goldman, Founder and President; Douglas Goldman, Vice President; John Goldman; Vice President; Susan Gelman, Vice President; Anwar Fazal, Former Advisor to the U.N. Development Programme, Malaysia; Alvaro Umaña, Former Environment Minister, Costa Rica; Geoffrey Lean, Environmental Journalist, United Kingdom; and Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, former member of Parliament, 1991 Goldman Prize recipient, Kenya.
“Ms. Kakabadse brings an impressive breadth of experience and environmental understanding to the Goldman Environmental Prize jury. We are pleased that she will join us to select our 20th group of outstanding grassroots activists,” said Goldman Prize Founder and President, Richard N. Goldman.
Kakabadse was born and raised in Ecuador, where she studied Educational Psychology in the Catholic University of Quito. Her nexus with the environmental conservation movement officially began in 1979, when she was appointed Executive Director of Fundación Natura in Quito, where she worked until 1990. Ms. Kakabadse helped Fundación Natura become one of Latin America’s most important environmental organizations through the development of important processes for Ecuadorian society and the international community: from environmental education to the proposal of development policies, Fundación Natura took an important place in the world of non-governmental organizations. In 1993 she created Fundacion Futuro Latinoamericano and was its Executive President until 2006; she is presently the Chair of the Advisory Board of this organization dedicated to promote sustainable development in Latin America through conflict prevention and management.
From 1990 until 1992, Ms. Kakabadse coordinated in Geneva, Switzerland, the participation of civil society organizations for the United Nations Conference for Environment and Development (Earth Summit). In August 1998 she was appointed Minister of Environment for the Republic of Ecuador, position she held until January 2000. During 2001 she was a visiting professor at Yale’s School of Forestry and Environment, USA.
She was President of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) from 1996 to 2004, and Member of the Board of the World Resources Institute (WRI) during the same period.
She co-Chaired the Environmental Sustainability Task Force of the UN Millennium Project, 2002 – 2005. Since 2005 she has chaired the Scientific and Technology Advisory Panel of the Global Environment Facility (STAP / GEF)
Other activities, memberships, and appointments include:
- Member of the Board of Trustees of the Ford Foundation (1997 – 1998; 2000 –)
- Member of the International Advisory Board of INBio
- Member of the Leadership Council, FES / Yale University
- Member of the Environmental Advisory Board of CocaCola (2002 –)
- Miember of the Board of Participacion Ciudadana – Ecuador (2003 –)
- Member of the Board of The InterAmerican Dialogue (2004 –)
- Special Advisor to the Commission of Education and Communication (CEC) of IUCN
- Honorary Councilor of Wildlife Trust
- Member of the Board of TROPENBOS (2005 –)
- Member of the Environmental Advisory Board of the HOLCIM Foundation (2005 -)
Honorary orders and awards:
- Insignia of the National Order for Merit as a Commissioned Officer for the Republic of Ecuador (1990)
- Global 500 Award of the United Nations Environment Program (1991)
- The Golden Ark Order, bestowed by Prince Bernard of The Netherlands (1991)
- Zayed International Price for the Environment, (2001)
- Doctor in Science (ScD) Honoris Causa – University of East Anglia – 2008
About the Goldman Environmental Prize
The Goldman Environmental Prize was established in 1990 by San Francisco civic leader and philanthropist Richard N. Goldman and his late wife, Rhoda H. Goldman. It has been awarded to 126 people from 72 countries.
Prize winners are selected by an international jury from confidential nominations submitted by a worldwide network of environmental organizations and individuals.
Previous Prize winners have been at the center of some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges, including seeking justice for victims of environmental disasters at Love Canal and Bhopal, India; leading the fight for dolphin-safe tuna; fighting oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and fighting against mountain-top removal mining in America’s coal country.
Since receiving a Goldman Prize, eight winners have been appointed or elected to national office in their countries, including several who became ministers of the environment. The 1991 Goldman Prize winner for Africa, Wangari Maathai, won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.