U.S. Green Building Council and 'Living Legend' Sylvia Earle Awarded Top Global Environmental Prize for Service to the Environment
Launched in 2005, Champions of the Earth recognizes outstanding visionaries and leaders in the fields of policy, science, entrepreneurship, and civil society action
UN Top Environment Award Announces 2014 Laureates
WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a private not-for-profit organization transforming buildings across the world was announced as a winner of the UN's top environmental accolade, the Champions of the Earth award. Referred to as a "living legend" by the Library of Congress, Sylvia Earle won the Lifetime Achievement award for her service to Ocean Exploration and Conservation.
The Award was won by the USGBC for its outstanding contribution to sustainable building through its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) – currently the most widely used green building program worldwide.
An internationally renowned marine biologist, ocean explorer, author and lecturer and Time Magazine's first "Hero for the Planet", Earle was the first woman to serve as the Chief Scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She is the Founder and President of Mission Blue and the Sylvia Earle Alliance, and also an Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society.
Winners of UNEP's 2014 Champions of the Earth Award include: H.E. Tommy Remengesau, Jr. President of Palau; H.E. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Sixth President of the Republic of Indonesia; Sir Robert Watson, eminent environmental scientist; Boyan Slat, Founder of The Ocean Clean-up Initiative and Mario Molina, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and a leading scientist behind the discovery of the hole in the ozone layer.
Awards Ceremony with Ban Ki-Moon and Gisele Bundchen at the Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian
Winners will be honoured by UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki-moon and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner at an awards ceremony attended by UNEP Goodwill Ambassador Gisele Bundchen at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. on 19 November 2014.
For more information visit: http://www.unep.org/champions or contact: Shereen Zorba, [email protected], Tel. +254 788 526 000, Hugh Searight, [email protected], Tel. 202 957 6978
SOURCE UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
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