SUMMARY OF ACHIEVEMENTS
OF
UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME (UNEP)
2005 CHAMPIONS OF THE EARTH AWARD WINNERS
AFRICA
H. E. Mr. Thabo Mbeki and the People of South Africa
President Thabo Mbeki and the people of South Africa’s commitment to cultural and
environmental diversity and their efforts towards achieving the goals encapsulated in
the Millennium Declaration of 2000 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation
adopted at the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002 are
noteworthy.
The people of South Africa have not just made substantial progress in the sustainable
development of their own country, they have provided leadership and support for the
continent as a whole. President Mbeki is well known as one of the architects of the
New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), which has a strong
environmental component. South Africa also provided the perfect stage for WSSD,
which it hosted under the slogan “People, Planet, and Prosperity”. Holding WSSD
in South Africa gave delegates a valuable insight not only into the many formidable
challenges that Africa faces, but also into how Africa can and will rise to those
challenges.
South Africa’s implementation of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation is well on
track to meet the Johannesburg targets on water and sanitation. It is also a world
leader in conservation practices, through its innovative use of a wide variety of
available management tools and its spearheading of the groundbreaking sponsorship
of the Peace Parks concept to support cross-border conservation of critically
important wild habitats. With the declaration of four new Marine Protected Areas in
2004, it has also brought almost 19 per cent of its coastline under protection, already
nearly achieving the 20 per cent target set at WSSD.
As well as being a party to more than 43 multilateral environmental agreements,
South Africa has enacted a wide range of domestic legislation, backed up by specialist
environmental courts, to protect South Africa’s environment. Laws passed by
President Mbeki’s government include instruments to safeguard biological diversity,
improve air quality, promote environmental impact assessments in business and
industry, implement waste management strategies, and curb the pollution of the
environment by plastic bags.
South Africa also deserves recognition for the unity with which it is pursuing its
sustainable development goals. In the words of Martinus van Schalkwyk, South
Africa’s Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, speaking on World
Environment Day 2004, there is a “groundswell of support with one shared central
theme: the absolute imperative to protect, preserve and promote our natural
environment.” Millions of South Africans are striving to make a positive difference.
“In homes, businesses, factories, schools, churches and community centres we are
experiencing a quiet greening revolution.”
There is no doubt that this revolution is taking its lead from the top. As President
Mbeki said at the opening session of the meeting of Heads of State and Government
at WSSD, “we can and must act in unity to ensure that there is a practical and visible
global development process that brings about poverty eradication and human
advancement within the context of the protection of the ecology of the planet Earth.”
President Mbeki and the people of South Africa are setting an example for the world
to follow.
Excerpt from President Thabo Mbeki’s address at the welcome ceremony at WSSD:
“South Africans of many races, colours, cultures and religions are hard at
work to achieve peace and national reconciliation.
Proud of the fact that they are Africans and moved by the fact that the
peoples of Africa share a common burden of conflict, poverty and
underdevelopment, they are determined to work hand in hand with their brothers
and sisters throughout the continent, to end five hundred years of suffering and the
treatment of Africans by others, as less than human.
These South Africans, who occupy the land that is the cradle of humanity,
also know what has happened to the natural environment that enabled the
evolution of all life on earth, and the emergence of humanity itself.
Around them they see the degradation of the soil. They know the central
importance of water to the sustenance of life. They have seen how the natural
forests were decimated.
They know of the depletion of the resources of the giant oceans that meet
along our southern coast. They experience the pollution of the earth, the air, the
rivers and the seas, caused by human activity. They know of droughts and floods.
They experience the environmental suffering borne by slum-dwellers and others
immersed in poverty.
Understanding the umbilical cord that ties us to the planet earth, they are
determined to do everything possible to save the earth from ourselves, to save the
earth for ourselves, to ensure that as it took millions of years for humanity to
evolve and emerge, so must humanity survive and develop for millions more
years on the basis of a healthy partnership between people and the planet, on the
basis of a sustainable relationship between a prosperous world and a healthy
environment.
ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
Druk Gyalpo – Dragon King - Jigme Singye Wangchuk of Bhutan and the People
of Bhutan
Bhutan, a kingdom under the reign of Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King) Jigme Singye
Wangchuck, has the environment as the centrepiece in its constitution and all of its
national development plans. Bhutan has an excellent track record in the field of
environment – more than 74% of its land is under forest cover and 26% of this cover
is protected areas.
The Paro Resolution on Environment and Sustainable Development, declared in May
1990, states that Bhutan's natural resources base is central to a sustainable and
prosperous future of the country. The development of a National Environmental
strategy that will ensure the careful stewardship and sustained use of these natural
resources was urged. Development should be pursued on a middle path thus ensuring
that new industries, new agricultural markets and new forestry products will be
carefully developed with respect to their broader environmental ramifications.
Bhutan's success in preserving its natural resources has been possible because of the
country's recent entry into the economic development process, as well as the Buddhist
faith, an important factor in all aspects of Bhutanese life.
Bhutan is developing a National Environment Secretariat and an Environmental Trust
Fund, as well as new legislation and policies to ensure sustainable utilization of
resources, promote community involvement in environmental activities, improve land
use planning, and integrate traditional with modern natural resource use practices.
Additionally, Bhutan will attempt to base economic growth on environmentally sound
technologies, expand environmental education, and develop a family planning policy.
Bhutan boasts the most varied habitats and a rich array of animal and plant species.
Under Bhutanese law, 60% of the kingdom will remain forested for all time. There is
currently an astonishing array of plants – more than 5500 species, including over 300
medicinal strains. There are 165 species of mammals, including many rare and
endangered animals such as the golden langur, the snow leopard and the red panda.
To date, 770 species of birds have been recorded, including the rare and endangered
black-necked crane.
A progressive integrated conservation and development programme reconciles the
needs of the community with environmental protection, the foundation of Bhutan's
entire economic ethos. National parks sustain important ecosystems and have not been
developed as tourist attractions. In many cases one would not even be aware that one
is entering or leaving a protected area.
Bhutan ranks in the top 10% of countries with the highest species density on earth,
and it has the highest fraction of land in protected areas as well as the highest
proportion of forest cover of any Asian nation.
Development in Bhutan is guided by principles that emphasise preservation of both
natural and cultural heritage, as well as sustainability from subsistence to a more
modern economy. Renewable natural resources remain the most important sector, and
in 1998 contributed 36.1% of the Gross Domestic Product. Thus, short-term profit at
the expense of long-term loss of natural heritage is not for Bhutan. Its cautious
approach puts conservation first and relegates economic benefits to a secondary role.
By the late 1970s, Bhutan had established an extensive system of protected areas.
Since then, among other actions, the nation has:
 Established the Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation to provide
long-term financing for conservation;
 Revised and identified nine protected areas representative of Bhutan's diverse
ecosystems, comprising 26% of land area;
 Established the Nature Conservation Division within the Department of
Forestry Services, with a mandate to oversee and manage protected areas;
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Pledged to maintain, in perpetuity, at least 60% of land as forests;
Enacted the National Plant Quarantine Act (1993) to control the movement of
diseases, insects and other pests;
Included provisions for establishing protected areas and conservation
regulations in the Forest and Nature Conservation Act (1995);
Ratified the international conventions on Biological Diversity and Climate
Change (1995);
Adopted the National Biodiversity Action Plan (1998);
Adopted the Middle Path, a National Environmental Strategy (1998);
Initiated a National Biodiversity Programme to oversee ex-situ conservation
and sustainable utilisation of biodiversity (1998);
Legislated environmental assessments for all development and industrial
activities (2000);
Guiding principles for the future development of Bhutan are complemented by a
unifying concept the distinctly Bhutanese notion of Maximizing Gross National
Happiness (MGNH). The aim of MGNH is to promote important values and to
provide direction to the Kingdom's long-term development, and the concept must be
translated into tangible goals. Towards this end, five themes are identified and provide
powerful objectives for steering the process of change: human development, the
promotion and preservation of culture and heritage, balanced and equitable socioeconomic development, good governance, and environmentally sustainable
development.
EUROPE
His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, known in Europe as the ‘Green
Patriarch,’ has taken the lead among religious leaders in his concern for the
environment. His Holiness has initiated seminars and dialogues to discuss the need for
the mobilization of moral and spiritual forces to achieve harmony between humankind
and nature. One of his environmental initiatives, which is part of Religion, Science
and the Environment, is the Symposium entitled The Caspian Sea – Linking People
and Traditions, scheduled to take place aboard a ship, which will circumnavigate the
Caspian Sea from 17-25 June 2005. The symposium also aims to encourage
understanding and a dialogue between the Christian and Islamic faiths.
Writing in a 2004 issue of UNEP's flagship magazine Our Planet on 'Seas, Oceans
and Small Islands', His Holiness called for more attention to be paid to marine
pollution.
"At the foundation of the world, ‘in the beginning ... the spirit of God swept over the
face of the waters’ (Genesis 1:1-2). The Judeo-Christian scriptures speak of water as a
sign of blessing and peace (Deuteronomy 8:7). The way we relate to God is reflected
in the way we respect water. Water pronounces the sealed covenant between God and
the world; drought and thirst announce the rupture of this binding relationship, an
apostasy from the divine commandments (I Kings 17). The heavens, too, are set
among the waters (Revelation 4). Marine pollution is nothing less than the violation of
a hallowed promise.
[...]
In Eastern Orthodox iconography, blue is interchangeable with green. These colours
are predominantly used for foregrounds and backgrounds, being reserved also for the
depiction of the celestial. As in the viewpoint from space, so also in the perspective of
icons: both heaven and earth are blue! We tend to call earth our habitat; yet, in many
ways, water might be more appropriately hailed as our home or natural environment.
If there were no water, there would be no world. Marine pollution is nothing less than
the devastation of our earthly premise.
There is, then, something sacred, almost sacramental in the very fabric of water. The
meaning of water somehow conceals the very mystery of God. In this respect,
Orthodox theology proposes a model of environmental action based on the spiritual
significance of water. On a planet where oceans and rivers are polluted, we would do
well to remember the original and radical relationship between living sources of water
and the life-giving spirit of God. In a world where the unjust demands of the few stifle
the fundamental survival of the poor, water reminds us of the need to live simply and
simply to live. At a time when wastefulness has become so rampant and pervasive, we
are challenged to recall the implications of our actions as well as to assume
responsibility for a society where water is justly shared and where everyone has
enough.
In light of this commitment, the Ecumenical Patriarchate has to date organized five
international, inter-religious and inter-disciplinary symposia: in the Aegean Sea
(1995), on the Black Sea (1997), along the Danube River (1999), around the Adriatic
Sea (2002) and in the Baltic Sea (2003). A sixth is currently being prepared for the
Caspian Sea in the summer of 2005. The purpose is to call attention to the plight of
our seas; to attract religious leaders, scientists, environmentalists, politicians and
journalists; and to raise awareness about collective responsibility for our environment
for future generations. None of us is able to resolve the environmental crisis alone;
‘everyone has a part to play', as we stated in a Common Declaration with Pope John
Paul II at the closing ceremony of the Adriatic symposium.
All of us know that we are surrounded by rivers, seas and oceans. What we do not
immediately recognize is the way in which these are intimately and innately
connected to one another as well as to our environment. We may not immediately
discern the close relationship between the world’s waterways, the world’s people and
the world’s Creator. There is an interconnection and interdependence between the
water of baptism, the sap of plants, the tears of humans, the bloodstream of animals,
the rainfall of a forest and the flow of rivers to the sea.
We are called to avow water as the wonder of life if we are ever to avert the world
crisis in water pollution and distribution. In order to correct the wrongful politics of
water by those who regard it as their rightful property, we must first celebrate water as
the irreplaceable patrimony of all humankind; we must accept the indiscriminate and
inalienable right to water for all people in the world. Water can never be reduced to a
marketable commodity for profit – especially for the affluent, especially for the few.
It must always be protected as part of the fundamental quality of life – especially for
the more vulnerable, especially for our children.
On the third day of creation, ‘God gathered the waters under the sky into one place;
and God saw that it was good. ... So God created every living thing, with which the
waters swarm. And God saw that it was good.’ (Genesis 1:9-21). The Greek word for
‘good’ implies beauty and harmony. The very least that we owe God, this world and
our children, is to preserve the beauty of our planet’s water, to leave behind a world
that remains good."
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
Ms. Julia Carabias Lillo – Mexico
Julia Carabias Lillo coordinated a research and rural development programme in
extremely impoverished peasant communities in the four regions of Mexico called the
'Integrated Use of Natural Resources' (PAIR the acronym in Spanish).
She was a member of the Commission for Developing Countries and Global Change,
which published the report For Earth's Sake during the 1992 Conference on the
Environment and Development in Brazil sponsored by the UN. Carabias is currently
a member of several consultative councils and forms part of the academic councils of
various national and international organizations, such as member of the Board of
Directors of Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD International)
until 2001, the Scientific Committee of SCOPE from1994 to 2000, and at present she
is a member of the National Steering Committee of LEAD Mexico, member of the
Board of Directors of the World Wildlife Fund, and of the Resources for the future.
In February 1994, Carabias was named President of the National Ecology Institute,
then a decentralized agency of the Social Development Ministry. In December 1994,
she was asked by the then President of Mexico to form part of his Cabinet as the
Minister of Fisheries. That same month, the Ministry of Environment, Natural
Resources and Fisheries was created with Carabias as Minister. She served in that
position for six years until the end of the administration in November 2000.
In 2002, she was named Chair of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel of the
Global Environment Facility (GEF) and is serving a term of four years. She continues
to be a member of the Faculty of Sciences of the National Autonomous University of
Mexico (UNAM) coordinating a new Masters Degree programme in Restoration
Ecology, and she is President of the NGO Centro Interdisciplinario de Biodiversidad
y Ambiente (CEIBA).
Carabias is the author of numerous scientific articles on botany, ecology, natural
resource management, ecological restoration and conservation. She is also the coauthor of Ecology and Alimentary Self-sufficiency, Rural Production in Mexico,
Ecological Alternatives, and Natural Resource Management and Rural Poverty.
NORTH AMERICA
Ms. Sheila Watt-Cloutier
When she was growing up in an Inuit community in northern Quebec, Sheila WattCloutier never rode anything faster than a dog sled.
Now the 50-year-old grandmother jets across the globe speaking out on
environmental issues and warning of the impending catastrophe that is global
warming.
Her people are witnessing first hand the devastating affects of climate change and its
relentless assault on their traditional way of life.
And if there is one place on the planet where the effects of the “great warming” are
immediately felt it is in the Arctic. As Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference
(Canada) in 1995 and re-elected to the position on a full-time basis in1998, WattCloutier represents some 155,000 Inuit in Canada, the USA, Russia and Greenland.
The minutest change in the Arctic changes everything, every eco system. The changes
in climate have brought a lot more insects and bugs, and new species of birds never
before seen in the arctic are appearing every year.
Watt-Cloutier is fully involved in United Nations work and has for years been
working on the treaty to eliminate the use persistent organic pollutants, or POP’s.
As Chair of ICC Canada, Ms. Watt-Cloutier maintains a seat on the international ICC
executive council, working in cooperation with Inuit leaders from Greenland, Alaska
and Chukotka (Russia).
Ms. Watt-Cloutier is now applying her vast experience at the international level. She
is an effective spokesperson on a wide range of Arctic and Indigenous issues, and has
made numerous presentations to governments and international bodies
Some 50 nations have signed on to the new treaty making it one of the fastest ratified
UN treaties on record. But the global work to get there took some 15 years.
Watt-Cloutier is one of the environmental heroes featured in The Great Warming, a
three-part documentary narrated by Alanis Morissette and Keanu Reeves, which
premiers Earth Day, April 22, on the Discovery Channel.
WEST ASIA
His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab
Emirates (UAE), is popularly known as ‘The Man of the Arab Environment’. Under
his leadership, development activities have touched all aspects of life in the UAE with
agriculture and afforestation as the focus of his main concerns.
One of Sheikh Zayed’s most remarkable and enduring achievements is the greening of
the region’s deserts. Under his guidance, 100 million trees have been planted in the
UAE - all in an effort to stem the encroachment of sand onto agricultural land and
urban areas. Using various irrigation techniques, including the ancient Aflaj (efalf)
system and the latest technology in desalination, sewage and farming, today the UAE
produces 20% of the world’s date palms and myriad species of plants and flowers
now flourish. Thank to his vision, his dream of a greener country was realized.
Animals likewise receive attention from Sheikh Zayed. To ensure the protection of his
country’s biological diversity, he outlawed hunting more than a quarter of a century
ago. He went further by creating, on his own island reserve of Sir Bani Yas, a
sanctuary for endangered species, such as the Arabian Oryx and the sand gazelle.
Thanks to his efforts, the symbol of Abu Dhabi – the Dorcas Gazelle, is a protected
species whose numbers are increasing under special programmes. Under an
agreement with international conventions such as CITES, turtles are also protected as
are the rare Arabian Leopard, the ibex and the dugong (manatee).
In addition, to ensure the preservation of the country’s flora and fauna, Sheikh Zayed
established the Higher Environment Council.
In 1995, Sheikh Zayed received a gold medal from the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, for his agricultural development efforts,
not only in the UAE, but in other developing countries. In 1997, he was honoured by
the President of Pakistan with a special award for his role in environmental
conservation. This was the first time that Pakistan bestowed such an accolade on a
Head of State. That same year, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and President
Emeritus of the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) presented Sheikh Zayed with the
"Golden Panda" – WWF’s highest award. This was the first time in the history of the
award that a Head of State was so honoured. Again in 1997, he received the region’s
first ever Gulf Business Award for Environmental Action.
SPECIAL PRIZE
Mr. Zhou Qiang and the All-China Youth Federation
Mr. Zhou Qiang is Honorary chairman of the All-China Youth Federations (ACYF)
and the leader of the China Mother River Protection Operation leading group. At the
beginning of 1999, he promoted the Mother River Protection Operation in China and
mobilized the Chinese youth to protect the environment. He developed the plan of the
Operation and actively took part in its implementation. Thanks to his leadership and
efforts to driving the Operation, RMB 250million has been raised from all sectors of
society in the past five years by calling for "A donation of RMB 5.00 for planting One
Tree and RMB 200.00 for One Mu Forest".
Mr. Qiang has made great efforts in formulating the development strategies and
making significant decisions for the Mother River Protection Operation while being
proactive participating in important activities and key construction programmes. He
has for many times appealed to protect the Mother River, which is the cradle of
Chinese culture. More and more youth and social communities are actively joining in
the undertaking of Mother River Protection, which has dramatically promoted the
progress of environmental protection work of the civil societies in China.
To date, ACYF has undertaken 882 afforestation projects covering 191,000 hectares
have been completed, 300 million young people have been mobilized to participate in
protection of the mother river, and exchanges and cooperation in the field of
environmental protection have been furthered among young people in more than 50
countries and regions to generate extensive influence around the world. On 4 May
2002, the President of China inscribed the message of "Protecting the Mother River"
to the Operation to express his full recognition of the Operation. The Operation,
initially advocated by Zhou Qiang, has now become the non-governmental public
welfare event for environmental protection that is most known in China.
As the only national youth association in China, the All-China Youth Federation is a
very important force for protecting the environment in China and the global
environment.