Congratulations to the 2018 Goldman Environmental Prizewinners for their extraordinary and visionary grassroots environmental leadership!
Here at Global Greengrants Fund, we are especially honored to acknowledge Liz McDaid, Manny Calonzo, Francia Márquez, and Khanh Nguy Thi, four members of the extended Greengrants family. Liz McDaid is the coordinator of our Southern Africa Advisory Board, and Manny Calonzo, Francia Márquez, and Khanh Nguy Thi are grantees. We thank them all for their outstanding contributions and honor all the winners for their dedication to our planet and all the people who call it home.
Liz McDaid (South Africa)
Liz McDaid is the coordinator of the Southern Africa Advisory Board here at Global Greengrants Fund, helping the board identify grantees and review grant proposals in the Southern Africa region. This year, Liz and Makoma Lekalakala are being recognized for their work building a coalition to halt a secret nuclear deal between Russia and South Africa.
As a result of their efforts, on April 26, 2017 the High Court ruled that the $76 billion nuclear project was unconstitutional, a huge victory that protects South Africa from future nuclear development and radioactive waste.
Manny Calonzo (Philippines)
Manny Calonzo is the leader of an advocacy campaign that persuaded the Philippine government to enact a nation-wide ban on the production, use, and sale of lead paint. Thanks to his efforts, 85% of the paint sold in the Philippines is certified as lead safe.
Manny and his organization, the Ecological Waste Coalition of the Philippines, have received 12 grants from Global Greengrants Fund since 2006. The grants have helped the group build zero waste communities by directly engaging with local governments, and educate children on zero waste practices through school programs. The majority of the funding has helped the group collaborate with policymakers to drive larger, more sustainable changes.
Francia Márquez (Colombia)
Francia is the leader of a massive community effort which encouraged Colombian government officials to eradicate illegal mining in the Cauca Mountains of La Toma – the epicenter of the country’s illegal gold mining epidemic. Thanks to Francia’s work, all illegal mining operations in La Toma terminated indefinitely, and by the end of 2016 all illegal mining machinery in La Toma was destroyed by Colombian security forces.
After appealing to the UN High Commissioner for Colombia, Francia organized a 10-day, 350-kilometer march of 80 women from the Cauca Mountain to Bogota, which brought widespread national attention to the environmental and social destruction of mining. Francia’s organization, Asociación de Mujeres Afrodescendientes, received a grant from Global Greengrants Fund in 2014 in support of this march.
Khanh Nguy Thi (Vietnam)
Khanh is a climate and energy scholar who collaborated with state agencies to reduce Vietnam’s coal dependency and move the country toward a more sustainable energy future. Because of Khanh, the Vietnamese government revised its Power Development Plan in 2016 to significantly reduce the number of coal power plants originally planned, as well as incorporated Khanh’s recommendation to increase renewable energy sources to 21% of the total plan by 2030.
Khanh’s organization, Green Innovation and Development Centre (GreenID), received two grants from Global Greengrants Fund in 2012 and 2014 for their work to resist coal and hydropower projects. The group organized training and communication activities for communities and civil society groups around Vietnam, which led to extensive media coverage and debate around coal. This publicity paved the way for Khanh to engage with the Vietnamese government on a cleaner national energy plan.
The prize is a real honor, one that calls international attention to the incredible work activists are doing worldwide.
Photos: Goldman Environmental Prize