November 21, 2023
Uniting Grassroots Leaders from around the World
Today we are celebrating the end to a busy fall season, which brought the Goldman Environmental Prize to five regional climate events and summits around the world.
Over the course of the past three months, in five different countries, the Goldman Prize convened 21 Prize winners across five events, including many who won the Goldman Prize during the COVID-19 pandemic. The events were opportunities for Prize winners to meet one another, build capacity, network with policymakers and advocates, and tell their stories to international audiences. As activist Maida Bilal (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2021) shared, “Now I feel that I am not alone.”
Highlights from Asia-Pacific Climate Week
This past week, Goldman Prize staff and Prize winners attended Asia-Pacific Climate Week in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
Prize winners on the ground included Prigi Arisandi (Indonesia, 2011), Paul Sein Twa (Myanmar, 2020), Niwat Roykaew (Thailand, 2022), Sereivathana Tuy (Cambodia, 2010), and Julien Vincent (Australia, 2022).
The conference began on November 13 with a musical theater performance, a visual display of singers and dancers encouraging everyone to rise up to mitigate climate change. Over 4,000 people were in attendance. Prize winners attended plenary sessions and side events around sustainable water management, a just energy transition, climate security, youth, and education. Throughout the week, the five Prize winners represented a critical group of grassroots environmental activists, as the bulk of conference attendees were government officials and representatives from the United Nations.
At the end of the week, Paul Sein Twa noted, “I feel my energy is replenished for more tasks ahead.” The week concluded with the planting of a native longan tree.
