UN’s highest environmental honour awarded to St John’s economist

"I would apologise to future generations, but that's hardly doing anything. Our job is to take dramatic and transformative action"

A St John’s academic has been named as a United Nations ‘Champion of the Earth’ for his ‘transformative’ work to halt ecosystem damage.

Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta was honoured in the Science and Innovation category for his landmark UK government review on the economics of biodiversity, which calls for a fundamental rethink of humanity’s relationship with the natural world to prevent critical ecosystems from reaching dangerous tipping points.

Sir Partha is one of five people to be announced as 2022 United Nations Champion of the Earth – he joins a conservationist, an enterprise, a women’s rights activist, and a wildlife biologist to receive the honour.

Since its inception in 2005, the annual Champions of the Earth award has been awarded to trailblazers at the forefront of efforts to protect the natural world. It is the UN’s highest environmental honour and recognises leaders from government, society and the private sector. To date, the award has recognized 111 laureates: 26 world leaders, 69 individuals and 16 organisations. This year a record 2,200 nominations from around the world were received.

Inger Andersen, Executive Director of United Nations Environment Programme, said: “Healthy, functional ecosystems are critical to preventing the climate emergency and loss of biodiversity from causing irreversible damage to our planet. This year’s Champions of the Earth give us hope that our relationship with nature can be repaired.

“This year’s Champions demonstrate how reviving ecosystems and supporting nature’s remarkable capacity for regeneration is everyone’s job: governments, the private sector, scientists, communities, NGOs and individuals.”

Prof Partha Dasgupta
Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta.

The Dasgupta Review was commissioned in 2019 by the UK government and is an independent, global review on the Economics of Biodiversity led by Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta. The review has been supported by an advisory panel drawn from public policy, science, economics, finance and business.

It calls for changes in how we think, act and measure economic success to protect and enhance our prosperity and the natural world. Grounded in a deep understanding of ecosystem processes and how they are affected by economic activity, the new framework presented by the review sets out how we should account for nature in economics and decision-making.

Leading Lebanese environmental enterprise Arcenciel was honoured in the Inspiration and Action category. Arcenciel works to create a cleaner, healthier environment and recycles more than 80 per cent of Lebanon’s potentially infectious hospital waste every year.

“Ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean face massive threats. Every year, the planet loses forest cover equivalent to the size of Portugal”

Constantino Aucca Chutas was also honoured in the Inspiration and Action category, after he  pioneered a community reforestation model driven by local and Indigenous communities which led to three million trees being planted in Peru.

Dr Purnima Devi Barman was honoured in the Entrepreneurial Vision category, is a wildlife biologist who leads the “Hargila Army”, an all-female grassroots conservation movement in India dedicated to protecting the Greater Adjutant Stork from extinction. The women create and sell textiles with motifs of the bird, helping to raise awareness about the species while building their own financial independence.

And Cécile Bibiane Ndjebet was honoured in the Inspiration and Action category. She is a tireless advocate for the rights of women in Africa to secure land tenure, which is essential if they are to play a role in restoring ecosystems, fighting poverty and mitigating climate change. She is also leading efforts to influence policy on gender equality in forest management across 20 African countries.

Following the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), this year’s awards shine a spotlight on efforts to prevent, halt and reverse ecosystem degradation globally.

Ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean face massive threats. Every year, the planet loses forest cover equivalent to the size of Portugal. Oceans are being overfished and polluted, with 11 million tonnes of plastic alone ending up in marine environments annually. One million species are at risk of extinction as their habitats disappear or become polluted.

Ecosystem restoration is essential for keeping global warming below 2°C and helping societies and economies to adapt to climate change. It is also crucial to fighting hunger: restoration through agroforestry alone has the potential to increase food security for 1.3 billion people. Restoring just 15 per cent of converted lands could reduce the risk of species extinction by 60 per cent.

The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review

Published 30/11/2022

Back to College News