Activists who helped defund coal, hold big oil to account and launch landmark climate lawsuits are among the winners of this year’s Goldman environmental prize, an international award for eco activism, dubbed the ‘Green Nobel Prize’.
The winners highlighted the power of individual action. They were: Alex Lucitante (main pic) and Alexandra Narvaez who led a movement in Ecuador to protect Indigenous land from oil-drilling; Nalleli cobo, who helped shut off a toxic US oil-drilling facility; Julien Vincent who led a successful campaign in Australia to defund coal; Marjan Minnesma (pictured), which took the Dutch government to court (and won); Niwat Roikaew, who stopped an environmentally harmful shipping project in the Mekong and Shell responsible for the oil spillage in Nigeria.
“While the many challenges before us can feel daunting, and at times make us lose faith, these seven leaders give us a reason for hope and remind us what can be accomplished in the face of adversity,” said Jennifer Goldman Wallis, vice president of the Goldman Environmental Foundation.
Image: Goldman Environmental Prize
