Goldman Environmental Prize Blog

Margaret Jacobsohn and Garth Owen-Smith were awarded the Prize in 1993 for their work to assist rural communities to link social and economic development to the conservation of the region’s spectacular wildlife and other natural resources. Twenty years after winning the Prize, Namibians Garth Owen-Smith and Margaret Jacobsohn are still working in community-based conservation. But…

Michal Kravcik was awarded the Goldman Prize in 1999 for his work to halt the construction of destructive dam projects in post-communist Slovakia by proposing democratic alternatives, including smaller dams, decentralized water management and restored farmlands. Fifteen years later, Kravcik is still working diligently to design sustainable water management models for Slovakia and the world.…

Nearly one month ago, a severe storm moved through the Caribbean, bringing torrential rains, landslides and destruction to the island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). 1994 Goldman Prize winner Andrew Simmons and his team at JEMS Progressive Community Organization are calling for donations to assist in disaster relief efforts currently underway. Donations…

Dr. Yu Xiaogang was awarded the Goldman Prize in 2006 for his work to develop groundbreaking watershed management programs to protect China’s Nu River and riverside communities from dams and development. In 2003, the Yunnan provincial government announced plans to construct 13 new dams on the Nu River, one of the Three Parallel Rivers – the Nu,…

2009 Goldman Prize winner Maria Gunnoe is one of over 300,000 West Virginians whose water has been contaminated by a coal-related chemical spill. Gunnoe won the Goldman Prize in 2009 for her fight against environmentally-devastating mountaintop removal coal mining and valley fill operations. Today, she is a leading voice in the campaign to expose the…

Oral Ataniyazova, an obstetrician who also holds a doctorate in medical science, was awarded the Goldman Prize in 2000 for her work to treat and raise public awareness about environmental and health problems surrounding Uzbekistan’s Amu Darya River corridor. Early in the Soviet era, the entire region along the Amu Darya River (which includes Kyrgyzstan,…

As the year came to a close, Goldman Prize staff took some time to reflect milestones from 2013—some were victories we were thrilled to celebrate, others were reflective of the dangerous reality in which many grassroots environmental activists carry out their work. Shell suspended drilling in the Arctic…for 2013: While it wasn’t a permanent, outright…

Bob Brown was among the inaugural group of Goldman Prize winners awarded in 1990. He won the Prize for his work to protect Tasmania’s natural resources, including Australia’s last free-flowing river, the Franklin River and its watershed. To that end, he helped found the Tasmanian Wilderness Society in 1976. Brown continued to advocate for the…

2010 Prize winner Malgorzata Gorska and 1994 Prize winner Heffa Schucking were among the attendees of the UN Climate Talks (COP19) in Warsaw, Poland last month. The main objective on the conference was to set up a framework for a new climate treaty that will replace the Kyoto Protocol, which will expire in 2020. Much…

A new report from Lux Research projects that solar energy may become as competitive as natural gas by 2025. Deutsche Bank also released a report concluding that solar power will become competitive in the energy market, even without government subsidies, by the end of next year. 1994 Goldman Prize winner Heffa Schucking lives in Germany…