Goldman Environmental Prize Blog

From plantations to processing to consumer products, this three part series examines the impacts of industrial palm oil on the environment, human rights and wildlife conservation. Conflict palm oil: it’s the new buzz word on the street, but how could something as seemingly innocent as vegetable oil be the cause for so much concern? Anything…

The Obama administration recently asked congress to increase federal protection for millions of acres within Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The White House is seeking “wilderness” level protection for 12 of the 19 million acres that make up the refuge. Wilderness status is the highest level of federal protection available for public lands and…

Waste incineration produces some of the most toxic chemicals known to science, including hormone-disrupting dioxins. The incineration process produces ash with concentrated amounts of heavy metals, such as lead, arsenic and cadmium that, when buried, pollute groundwater for generations. These chemicals have been linked to birth defects, cancer, respiratory ailments and reproductive dysfunction among people…

With the aftermath of super typhoon Haiyan still part of their daily lives, Filipino Catholic Church groups and civil society organizations, implored Pope Francis to take strong action on climate change during his recent visit. In a joint statement from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-National Secretariat for Social Action (CBCP-NASSA), and the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice…

Kenyan Goldman Prize winner Ikal Angelei has dedicated her life to fighting the construction of the Gibe 3 Dam, one of Africa’s largest hydropower projects. The dam, which is being built upstream on the Omo River by the Ethiopian government, will reduce water flow to Kenya’s Lake Turkana by 70%, drastically shrinking the lake, killing…

Before New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a statewide ban on fracking last month, dozens of small towns had already banned the practice in their municipalities. Due to the local bans and existing state restrictions, 63% of the Marcellus Shale was already off limits when the statewide ban was announced, muddling the economic boon forecasted…

As our 25th Anniversary year comes to a close, we are taking the opportunity to look back at some of our favorite highlights from 2014. In March, we kicked off our official anniversary celebrations with Goldman Prize winners Kim Wasserman and Maria Gunnoe, who joined Goldman Prize Board members John and Doug Goldman for “The…

Representatives from nearly 200 countries gathered in Lima, Peru at the beginning of December for the final round of climate negotiations before the Paris Climate Summit in 2015. While some supporters applauded the negotiations as the first time all nations have agreed to reduce carbon emissions, the general consensus suggests that Lima was yet another…

Living under the constant threat of assassination, Francisco Pineda was awarded the Goldman Prize in 2011 for courageously leading a citizens’ movement that stopped a gold mine owned by OceanaGold (formerly Pacific Rim) from destroying El Salvador’s dwindling water resources and the livelihoods of rural communities throughout the country. Gold mining is notoriously damaging to…

On the 30th anniversary of the 1984 Union Carbide gas leak that killed 20,000 and injured more than 150,000 in Bhopal, India, we are spotlighting 2004 Goldman Prize winners Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla, who led a class action suit demanding cleanup and compensation for affected individuals. Devi Shukla lost her husband and three…