Celebrating grassroots leaders who prove that ordinary people can have an extraordinary impact on the environment
2026 Goldman Environmental Prize Winners
- England Sarah Finch: Sarah Finch and the Weald Action Group won a historic UK Supreme Court ruling that requires fossil fuel projects to account for their full climate impact—reshaping environmental law across the UK and beyond.
- United States Alannah Acaq Hurley: Alannah Acaq Hurley helped mobilize 15 Indigenous nations, Alaskans, and NGOs to defeat what would have been North America’s largest open-pit mine—securing a historic EPA veto that protects 25 million acres of salmon-rich wilderness
- South Korea Borim Kim: Borim Kim and Youth 4 Climate Action channeled the voice of a generation demanding climate action—securing Asia’s first youth-led constitutional climate victory, mandating significant reductions in emissions
- Colombia Yuvelis Morales Blanco: As a young adult, Yuvelis Morales Blanco helped prevent fracking from gaining a foothold in Colombia and defended the venerated Magdalena River.
- Papua New Guinea Theonila Roka Matbob: Theonila Roka Matbob compelled mining giant Rio Tinto to acknowledge responsibility for decades of environmental devastation and social harm—launching the clean up of its abandoned copper mine.
- Nigeria Iroro Tanshi: Iroro Tanshi built a community-led wildfire prevention system, protecting one of Nigeria’s last remaining rainforests and the habitat of the endangered short-tailed roundleaf bat.
For more on this award and its many laureates, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/928A7FD2-4E3D-400E-BCE9-488658DA3BAF
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 