By Samuel Ogunsona
The AEON Environmental Foundation and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) announced the winners of the 2024 MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity today.
This year’s recipients are Ms. Vera Voronova, Executive Director of the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan, and Ms. Ysabel Agustina Calderón Carlos, Founder and CEO of Sumak Kawsay, an environmental enterprise in Peru.
The MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity is a prestigious biennial international prize organized by the AEON Environmental Foundation and the CBD Secretariat. It recognizes biodiversity champions in various sectors and levels, reflecting the need for a whole-of-society approach to achieve the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s 23 targets by 2030.
Each winner will receive a commemorative gift, plaque, and a monetary prize of USD 100,000 to support their work in safeguarding biodiversity.
This brings the total number of winners to 19 individuals from 17 countries since the prize’s inception.
Takuya Okada, founder of the prize and Honorary Chairman of AEON Environmental Foundation, stated, “The conservation of biodiversity and prevention of climate change are critical environmental issues. We hope this prize contributes to global environmental goals.”
Astrid Schomaker, CBD Executive Secretary, remarked, “This year’s winners have developed initiatives benefiting people and nature. Congratulations to Vera Voronova and Ysabel Agustina Calderón Carlos, whose solutions epitomize the commitment needed to fulfill the vision of humanity living in harmony with nature.”
The Prize will be awarded on October 29, 2024, at the Multi-stakeholder Auditorium of the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Cali, Colombia. Winners will also be recognized during the high-level segment of the Conference on October 30, 2024.