Goldman Environmental Prize Blog

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…

2006 Goldman Prize winner Craig Williams has dedicated his life to the safe disposal of the United States’ chemical weapons stockpiles. As a member of the Kentucky Governor’s Commission on Chemical Weapons, and as a central figure in the fight to eradicate chemical weapons, Williams has attended two sessions of the Organisation for the Prohibition…

In November 2012, Russia passed a law requiring non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to register as foreign agents if they engage in political activity and receive financial support from foreign donors. The term “foreign agent” raises concern for activist groups because of its negative Cold War connotations. Moreover, the law is seen by many in the international…

Nelson Mandela inspired countless individuals to get involved in social activism, including several Goldman Prize winners. South Africa’s progressive constitution, implemented in 1996 during Mandela’s term as president, is unique in that is guarantees citizens the right to a clean and healthy environment. This constitutional guarantee was a lynchpin for the successful campaigns of 2012…