CHANGE STARTS WHERE YOU STAND
“I will continue fighting for rights and justice until the last days of my life.” That is what 2008 Prize winner Luis Yanza said about the legal battle he and fellow Prize winner Pablo Fajardo been waging against the oil-giant Chevron for nearly 20 years. But it appears that he will not have to wait…
Alexis Massol-Gonzalez, 2002 Prize winner from Puerto Rico, is celebrating the New Year with a victory for the fight against the proposed Via Verde pipeline. In mid-December, a court denied Via Verde’s request to expropriate residential land to make way for building. The pipeline’s current proposed route would impact over 1,500 acres of rainforest, endangering…
Among the greatest environmental victories in Peru last year was the unanimous passage of the “Prior Consultation Law” by the Peruvian Congress. Signed into law by President Ollanta Humala, the bill requires companies to consult with indigenous communities before undertaking any development project on their traditional lands and marks a historic step forward for indigenous…
The courageous and monumental work of all Goldman Prize winners brings us plenty of cheer this season. Happy holidays from all of us at the Goldman Prize. We look forward to more victories from our Prize recipients in the New Year.
While kids throughout the US were trick-or-treating for sweets during Halloween this year, 2009 Goldman Prize winner Yuyun Ismawati was busy distributing chocolate gold coins to UN delegates in Nairobi as part of her campaign to protect communities from the environmental damage and contamination that comes with small-scale gold mining, which makes deliberate use of…
Congratulations to Prigi Arisandi (2011) who won this year’s SBS Ecowater Award for his efforts to secure better water resource management and protection in Indonesia. There are five categories for the award, established in 2008 by the major South Korean television network SBS: citizen actions; society and culture; research and education; policy and environmental business…
For those of you who diligently mail out holiday cards every year, 2011 presents a special opportunity to help save endangered species while sharing holiday wishes with your loved ones. Earlier this year, the United States Postal Service issued a special stamp that will fund efforts to save elephants, rhinos, tigers, great apes, and marine…
Craig Williams (2006), director of the Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG) has just returned from The Hague in the Netherlands. Williams was invited to speak at the Conference of State Parties of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).The conference provided a forum for discussion and updates from representatives of 188 countries that…
Congratulations to Hilton Kelley (2011) as his campaign to train and empower communities is recognized by AARP’s 2011 Inspire Award. The award comes on the heels of an announcement that, thanks to the settlement deal that Kelley helped broker between Valero and the EPA, a new health care clinic will soon be opening in Port…
What do Ben Affleck, Cindy McCain and Corneille Ewango (2005) have in common? An understanding that local communities working together at the grassroots level is the surest way to defeat a common problem or reach a common goal. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is in the midst of a contentious national election that threatens…