NAIROBI, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- The UN Environment Programme on Tuesday announced 2021 Champions of the Earth Award winners who are all female amid their contribution to advancing the green agenda.
The winners of the prestigious environment award include Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, and Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, a Ugandan scientist.
"This year's Champions are women who not only inspire us but also remind us that we have in our hands the solutions, the knowledge and the technology to limit climate change and avoid ecological collapse," said Inger Andersen, UNEP's executive director in a statement issued in Nairobi.
Andersen reiterated that harnessing female-led innovations will be key to restoring planetary health amid the triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
According to Andersen, this year's winners of the Champions of the Earth Award demonstrated that narrowing the gender gap was crucial to the realization of a climate-resilient and sustainable future.
The winners of 2021 UN's prestigious environmental award were recognized for galvanizing action at the local, regional and global level to promote the health of ecosystems amid climatic and human-induced threats.
The four categories acknowledged in the award include inspiration and action, policy leadership, entrepreneur vision, science and innovation.
Mia Mottley is honored in the policy leadership category. Honored in the Science and Innovation category is Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, a veterinarian at Uganda's Wildlife Authority and an expert on primates and zoonotic diseases. The sea women of Melanesia and Maria Kolesnikova also won the award. Enditem
