The Goldman Environmental Foundation has announced the seven recipients of the Goldman Environmental Prize for 2024, the world’s largest award for environmental activists. In this edition, the environmental recognition, known globally as ‘The Nobel Prize for the Environment’, with regard to the European continent has fallen in Spain to the figure of Teresa Vicente, (Lorca, Murcia) director of the Chair of Human Rights and rights of Nature at the University of Murcia and professor of Philosophy of Law.
The Goldman Prize rewards Teresa Vicente for leading a historic campaign championing a Popular Legislative Initiative to provide legal personality to the Mar Menor, which had 639,826 signatures that promoted its consideration by the Congress of Deputies of Spain for the creation of Law 19/2022, of September 30 for the recognition of legal personality of the Mar Menor and its basin and which grants unique legal rights to the lagoon.
This international environmental award is presented annually to individuals regarded as environmental heroes from each of the world’s six inhabited continental regions and honors the achievements and leadership of grassroots environmental activists around the world, encouraging us all to take action to protect our planet.
The awards ceremony will take place in San Francisco on April 29 and will be hosted by the founder of Outdoor Afro, Rue Mapp, and will feature musical guests Jazz Mafia, in addition to being broadcast live on the YouTube channel of the Goldman Prize. A second ceremony will be held in Washington, DC, on May 1, hosted by science educator Danni Washington.
The awardees in the different continents this edition are: AFRICA: Nonhle Mbuthuma and Sinegugu Zukulu, South Africa
In September 2022, indigenous activists Nonhle Mbuthuma and Sinegugu Zukulu stopped destructive seismic testing for oil and gas off the coast of South Africa’s Eastern Cape, in a region known as the Wild Coast. By organizing their community, Nonhle and Sinegugu achieved their victory by asserting the local community’s right to protect their marine environment. By stopping oil and gas exploration in a particularly biodiverse region, they managed to protect migrating dolphins and whales, as well as other wildlife, from the harmful effects of seismic testing.
ASIA: Alok Shukla, India
He led a successful community resistance campaign that saved 445,000 acres of biodiversity-rich forests from 21 coal mines planned for the state of Chhattisgarh in central India. In July 2022, the government canceled the proposed 21 coal mines in Hasdeo Aranya, whose pristine forests, commonly known as the lungs of Chhattisgarh, form one of the largest intact forest regions in India.
ISLANDS AND ISLAND NATIONS: Murrawah Maroochy Johnson, Australia.
Led the blockade of a Waratah coal mine, which would have accelerated climate change in Queensland, destroyed the nearly 20,000-acre Bimblebox wildlife refuge, added 1.58 billion tonnes of CO? to the atmosphere over its lifetime and would have threatened indigenous culture and rights. The Murrawah case, which won an appeal in 2023, set a precedent that allows other First Nations people to bring legal challenges against coal mining projects, linking climate change to indigenous and human rights.
NORTH AMERICA: Andrea Vidaurre, United States
Andrea Vidaurre’s grassroots leadership convinced the California Air Resources Board in spring 2023 to adopt two landmark transportation regulations that significantly limit rail and truck emissions. The new laws — the Locomotives in Use Rule and the California Advanced Clean Fleet Rule — include the nation’s first regulation for train emissions and a path to 100% zero emissions for freight truck sales. 2036. These pioneering regulations—the product of Andrea’s political work and community organizing—will significantly improve air quality for millions of Californians while accelerating the nation’s transition to zero-emission vehicles.
SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA: Marcel Gomes, Brazil Marcel
He coordinated a complex international campaign that directly linked beef from JBS, the world’s largest meatpacking company, to illegal deforestation in Brazil’s most threatened ecosystems. Using detailed evidence from his investigative progress report, Marcel worked with allies to pressure global retailers to stop selling illegally sourced meat, leading to six major European supermarket chains in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom to indefinitely stop the sale of JBS products in December 2021. About the Goldman Environmental Prize.
The Goldman Environmental Prize was established in 1989 by San Francisco civic leaders and philanthropists Richard and Rhoda Goldman. Award winners are selected by an international jury based on confidential nominations submitted by a global network of individuals and environmental organizations.
