On Monday, April 24, in San Francisco, six activists from around the globe were awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize, the
world’s largest prize for grassroots environmentalists. The Goldman Prize recognizes individuals who work at great personal risk to protect our environment, our communities and life on earth.
With their stories of struggle and success, passion and resilience, the six winners — Uroš Macerl, Rodrigo Tot, Rodrigue Mugaruka Katembo, Wendy Bowman, Prafulla Samantra, and mark! Lopez — reminded the packed War Memorial auditorium why and how we must fight for our environment and our communities, at a time when our planet needs it most. Environmental defenders everywhere can learn a timely lesson in community, courage, integrity and perseverance from these individuals’ actions.
This past year has been a disheartening one for environmentalists. From the resurgence of climate denial to the renewed efforts of extractive industries, we have seen a great increase in the obstacles to visions of sustainability and coexistence.
Even under these trying conditions, the Goldman Prize winners affirm that no matter where we are in the world, our struggles boil down to the same truth: The only thing preventing corporate greed and government corruption from ravaging our environment and our communities is us. There is nothing else.
Shutting down one cement plant can protect an entire community from developing cancer later in life. Recognizing indigenous and local people’s land rights can prevent large corporations from irreversible damaging the natural environment. Exposing bribery and corruption can oust an oil company from a national park. Effective community organizing can lead to reparations for years of exposure to toxins and heavy metals.
From these struggles, what we learn is universal and timeless:
We must fight together. mark! Lopez said in his speech, “Nothing is possible with an individual. Everything is possible with the community.” Like mark!, many of the Goldman activists come from communities in which activism is a way of life and every individual does their part. When we fight together for our communities, we fight with authentic passion and love.
We must endure.Victories don’t happen overnight.This year’s prize winners have dedicated
their entire lives to fighting what are often decades-long campaigns. Some victories we won’t see in our lifetimes, but we must fight for them anyways. From the wisdom of Uros Macerl: “When you have victory and justice on your side… victory will come in time, with perseverance.”
We must speak truth to power.“Our struggle is simply to say loud and clear: No. No to such an undemocratic model of capitalism which is the cause of global warming and climate change,” declared Prafulla Samantara. Corporations and governments continue to exploit
those already oppressed by racism, classism and sexism. Citizens of the Global North are complicit in the consumption that perpetuates this injustice and fuels environmental degradation. A fight for the environment is a fight against this fundamental inequality.
These lessons may be simple, but in our complicated world, they are not easy. The example of those who live out these tenets of activism can renew our efforts to protect our earth. In this way, the 2017 Goldman Prize winners are an inspiration for us all.
Here are their accomplishments:
- Slovenia: Organic farmer, Uros Macerl shut down a cement plant near his family farm that was incinerating over 100 tons of trash every day. He took the Slovenian government to the European Court of Justice for failing to comply with EU pollution standards. The EU court sided with Macerl, pressuring the Slovenian government to order the plant to halt production.
- Guatemala: Rodrigo Totignited a campaign which led the Guatemalan Constitutional Court to recognize the Q’eqchi indigenous land rights, strengthening his fight against mining expansion into his community.
Wendy BowmanGoldman Environmental Prize
- Democratic Republic of Congo: Rodrigue Mugaruka Katembo exposed the bribery and corruption perpetrated by the British company SOCO in its pursuit to drill for oil in Virunga National Park. Public outrage forced SOCO to withdraw from the park.
- Australia: Wendy Bowman fought a legal battle that prevented a multinational mining company from taking her family farm and expanding into her community in the Hunter Valley. The Australian Land and Environment Court ruled that the company could only expand if she would sell them her land– the first legal ruling of its kind.
- India: Prafulla Samantaraorganized and sustained a 12-year legal battle to affirm the indigenous land rights of the Dongria Kondh people in the Niyamgiri Hills. Local communities were empowered to make the final decision in mining projects on their land.
mark! LopezGoldman Environmental PrizeThe tribal councils voted unanimously against a proposed aluminum ore mine.
- United States: For over three decades mark! Lopez’s community in East Los Angeles was contaminated by a battery smelter led by Georgia-based company Exide. Devoted to his family and community, mark! organized a successful campaign to get the state of California to implement lead testing and the cleanup of East Los Angeles.