Green achievers honoured at international award ceremony

From protecting the biodiversity of Yemen's islands to piloting climate-proofing strategies in Sudan and boosting conservation in Barbados, the 2008 Champions of the Earth are making their mark across the planet.

Prince Albert II of Monaco, former US Senator Timothy E Wirth and New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark are among the seven environmental achievers chosen for this year's awards, the United Nations Environment Programme announced.

The Champions of the Earth prize, which will be given out at a ceremony in Singapore on 22 April, recognises individuals from each region of the world who have shown extraordinary leadership on environmental issues.

The other 2008 Champions of the Earth are: Balgis Osman-Elasha, a senior researcher at Sudan's Higher Council for Environment & Natural Resources; Atiq Rahman, the executive director of the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies; Liz Thompson, the former Energy and Environment Minister of Barbados; and Abdul-Qader Ba-Jammal, the secretary-general of the Yemen People's General Congress.

All the winners have spearheaded initiatives in many different areas from environmental policy to cutting-edge research, with a particular focus on sustainable development and the fight against climate change.

2008 Champions of the Earth:

• UNEP special prize "” Rt Hon Helen Clark. By setting a carbon neutral goal for New Zealand, Prime Minister Helen Clark has put her country at the forefront of today's environmental challenges. Three major policy initiatives launched by Clark include: the Emissions Trading Scheme; the Energy Strategy; and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy.
• Africa "” Dr Balgis Osman-Elasha, a senior scientist from Sudan, is a leading author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, and has produced groundbreaking work on global warming in Africa, with an emphasis on northern and eastern Africa.
• Asia and the Pacific "” Dr Atiq Rahman is an advocate for sustainable development from Bangladesh, a country highly vulnerable to climate change and flooding. As one of the top specialists in his field, the executive director of the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) transformed the NGO into a leading think-tank in South Asia on sustainable development issues.
• Europe "” HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco. One of Prince Albert II's first acts as sovereign of Monaco was to sign the Kyoto Protocol "” a sign of his longstanding commitment to the environment. Prince Albert has been a prominent voice on environmental issues since the early 1990s and has been strongly involved in raising awareness on climate change, leading an expedition to the North Pole in 2006 to draw attention to the consequences of global warming.
• Latin America and the Caribbean "” H E Liz Thompson has become one of the recognised leaders on environmental issues of the Small Island Developing States. During her time as Minister of Energy and the Environment of Barbados, she enacted a range of progressive policies for sustainable development and environmental protection. She also became a key voice to raise awareness of global warming in Barbados "” a country where the challenges of climate change and conservation are of particular relevance.
• North America "” Timothy E. Wirth. For the last 30 years, Wirth has been an advocate for environmental issues in the United States. As the president of the United Nations Foundation and Better World Fund, Wirth has established the environment as a key priority and is mobilising strong resources to address crucial issues from biodiversity to climate change and renewable energy.
• West Asia "” H E Abdul-Qader Ba-Jammal has had a pioneering influence on environmental protection in Yemen "” a country which faces acute challenges from water scarcity to desertification. During his time as Minister and then Prime Minister, he established Yemen's Ministry of Water and Environment and Environment Protection Authority, solicited national and international funding for environmental conservation and sustainable water management, and implemented a series of groundbreaking environmental policies in Yemen and its region.