Six grassroots environmental activists are being honored on Monday with the prestigious Goldman Prize, raising the visibility of their efforts and helping to continue their quests to defend the natural world.
This year’s recipients, chosen by an international jury, hail from Australia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, India, Slovenia, and the United States, and have defended land rights, prevented pollution, exposed corruption, and beaten back environmentally destructive extractive industries. Like other Goldman laureates, former child soldier Rodrigue Katembo from the DRC has put his own life at risk defending the environment.
As a ranger in the renowned Virunga National Park, Katembo went undercover to expose the bribes British oil company SOCO and its contractors offered to achieve their goal of extracting oil from the park. Ensuing media overage of the corruption ultimately led to the company withdrawing its license.
Another of this year’s recipients is Australian farmer Wendy Bowman. The 83-year-old turned down millions from an Chinese-owned company that sought to expand a coal mine, much of which would have been under her property. With her refusal, she torpedoed the expansion, thereby saving her whole community from further ravages of coal pollution.
And this year’s winner from North America is mark! Lopez, whose East Los Angeles community knows well the impacts of the environmental injustice. Lopez helped spearhead an effort to get homes tested for lead—a harmful neurotoxin—and get remediation for homes that suffered decades of pollution at the hands of a battery smelter.
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