'Nobels of Environmentalism' Awarded to Conservationists From Around the World

The Goldman Prizes are hailed as the "Nobels of Environmentalism." They are given out each year by the Goldman Environmental Foundation (GEF). It honors people who have made a difference in protecting the environment. Each award is given to a person or people who, through great effort, served as a champion for the natural world.

GEF awards six prizes annually. They are given by geographic region. Here are 2026’s honorees. They were announced Monday.

Alannah Acaq Hurley. North America. Hurley, 62, is a member of Alaska’s Yup’ik Indigenous tribe. She led a campaign to prevent mining companies from turning Bristol Bay into an open-pit mine. The bay is an essential watershed. It feeds 25 million acres of wilderness.

Iroro Tanshi. Africa. Tanshi, 41, proved an endangered bat species in Nigeria still exists. It was thought to be extinct. She also formed fire brigades to protect the bats' habitat from wildfires.

Borim Kim. Asia. Kim, 31, founded Youth 4 Climate Action. It is an activist group. It works in South Korea. It pushed to make sure companies had to meet clean air standards. It is the first youth-led group in Asia to win a court case protecting future generations’ climate rights.

Sarah Finch. Europe. Finch, 62, spearheaded a decade-long battle against oil drilling in southeastern England. Her efforts led to the passage of the “Finch ruling.” It says oil companies must consider long-term climate impacts before drilling.

Yuvelis Morales Blanco. South and Central America. Blanco, 24, raised awareness in her community in Colombia about efforts to begin fracking in the area. The drilling threatened to pollute the nearby Magdalena River. Her community pulled together to cancel the fracking.

Theonila Roka Matbob. Islands and Island Nations. Matbob, 35, is an Indigenous Nasioi woman. She is from Papua New Guinea. She pressed Rio Tinto to address environmental damage caused by its shuttered Panguna mine. Rio Tinto is a mining company. It is the second largest mining company in the world.

Reflect: What is something in your environment or community that you would want to protect?

Photo of the Goldman Prize winners from Instagram courtesy of @goldmanprize.