{"id":492,"date":"2020-11-30T16:57:18","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T16:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=129408"},"modified":"2020-11-30T16:57:18","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T16:57:18","slug":"six-environmental-heroes-awarded-goldman-prize-for-taking-a-stand-risking-their-lives-and-livelihoods-and-inspiring-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2020\/11\/30\/six-environmental-heroes-awarded-goldman-prize-for-taking-a-stand-risking-their-lives-and-livelihoods-and-inspiring-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Six Environmental Heroes Awarded Goldman Prize for ‘Taking a Stand, Risking Their Lives and Livelihoods, and Inspiring Us’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After a long year of environmental disasters across the globe and in the midst of a public health crisis that has killed well over a million people, six “environmental heroes” were announced on Monday as winners of the 2020 Goldman Environmental Prize, an annual honor that recognizes grassroots activists from each of the world’s inhabited continental regions.<\/p>\n

“These six environmental champions reflect the powerful impact that one person can have on many,” John Goldman, president of the Goldman Environmental Foundation, said<\/a> in a statement. “In today’s world, we witness the effects of an imbalance with nature: a global pandemic, climate change, wildfires, environmental injustices affecting those most at risk, and constant threats to a sustainable existence.”<\/p>\n

“Even in the face of the unending onslaught and destruction upon our natural world, there are countless individuals and communities fighting every day to protect our planet,” Goldman continued. “These are six of those environmental heroes, and they deserve the honor and recognition the prize offers them\u2014for taking a stand, risking their lives and livelihoods, and inspiring us with real, lasting environmental progress.”<\/p>\n

This year’s winners<\/a> are Kristal Ambrose of the Bahamas, Nemonte Nenquimo of Ecuador, Lucie Pinson of France, Chibeze Ezekiel of Ghana, Leydy Pech of Mexico, and Paul Sein Twa of Myanmar. Although the foundation typically holds a ceremony for the recipients at the San Francisco Opera House in April, the prize is being awarded virtually <\/a>on Monday, at 4:00 pm PST, due to the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the livestreamed award ceremony, the foundation released videos and online biographies of the 2020 recipients, who join 200 activists from 90 nations who have been honored with the prize in the past<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kristal Ambrose, the Bahamas<\/h4>\n

Ambrose is being recognized for helping convince the government of the Bahamas to impose a nationwide ban on single-use plastic bags, plastic cutlery, straws, and Styrofoam containers and cups, which took effect this year. The foundation says that “operating outside of the traditional power structures in the Bahamas, Ambrose used science, strategic advocacy, and youth empowerment to get her country focused on plastics.”<\/p>\n

She explained<\/a> the significance of her government’s recent plastics ban in an interview with The Guardian<\/em>. “In the Bahamas, it’s a really big deal because we receive the world’s waste as well as producing our own,” Ambrose said. “This is paradise, until you look closely. Then you see the plastic pollution that washes in with the Sargasso Sea.”<\/p>\n

The founder of the Bahamas Plastic Movement<\/a>, she is currently studying marine waste in Sweden and, according to the newspaper, “aims to use the results of her research to build stronger organizations and awareness in the Bahamas.”<\/p>\n

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