THE DOING MAKES THE DIFFERENCE
On the 20th anniversary of the 1984 Union Carbide gas leak that killed 20,000 and injured more than 150,000 in Bhopal, Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla led a class action suit demanding cleanup and compensation for affected individuals.
Founding father and environmental hero of the newly formed nation, Demetrio do Amaral spearheaded the progressive inclusion of environmental justice tenets in East Timor’s constitution.
Margie Richard secured agreement from Shell Chemical to reduce its toxic emissions by 30 percent, contribute $5 million to a community development fund, and finance relocation of her Old Diamond neighbors in Louisiana.
Despite intense industry pressure and government corruption, Von Hernandez led the Philippines to institute the world’s first national ban on waste incinerators, a source of cancer-causing dioxins.
Odigha Odigha’s work has resulted in representation for Nigerian civil society in all forest management policies, including a statewide logging moratorium to protect the country’s remaining rainforests.
A public interest lawyer, Rudolf Amenga-Etego gained international recognition for suspending a major water privatization project that would have further impeded access to clean drinking water, a crisis linked to high rates of disease in low-income communities.
A coal miner’s daughter, Julia “Judy” Bonds fought to end mountaintop removal coal mining that contaminates drinking water, destroys rivers and forests, increases asthma rates, and forces families to abandon their homes.
Eileen Kampakuta Brown and Eileen Wani Wingfield led the campaign to block construction of a nuclear waste dump 50 years after nuclear bomb tests caused birth defects, cancer and the poisoning of the environment and wildlife.
Maria Foronda fostered partnerships between community groups, fishmeal producers and the government to institute environmentally sound and profitable business practices in lieu of dumping untreated industrial waste into streams and out of smokestacks.
Jadwiga Lopata created an eco-tourism program that promoted the environmental, economic and health advantages of small family farms over large-scale factory agriculture.
