Every year since 1990, the Goldman Environmental Prize has been awarded to six grassroots pioneers in environmental activism-one for each inhabited continent. These aren't your run-of-the-mill activists, though. No weekend picketers and petitioners here. In fact, Goldman jurors have a knack for selecting winners who go on to accomplish admirable things (former Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai and the Nigerian activist Ken Saro-Wiwa are both former recipients).This year's winners have all brought overlooked, critical environmental issues to the fore, often at great risk to their own safety and livelihoods. They include a single mom who battled Big Energy (and won); a Balinese woman who has helped solve Indonesia's solid-waste-management problem; a Bangladeshi lawyer who helped change national laws with international implications; a Russian scientist who has helped clean up toxic waste in the former USSR; and two tribesmen from Suriname, who accomplished a watershed victory for indigenous people in South America.The only winner we were not able to speak with was Marc Ona, a Gabonese man who has publicly exposed shady agreements between Chinese mining companies and his native country. He is frequently arrested and detained, and was stopped on his way to the United States to accept his Goldman award. We will be speaking with him in a few days, though. Stay tuned.
Winner: Olga SperanskayaLocation: Moscow, RussiaOccupation: Head of Program on Chemical Safety of the Russian NGO Eco-AccordMany countries in the former Soviet Union have long been stockpiles of toxic waste, with unpleasant legacies that to this day threaten the health of people and the environment. Russian scientist Olga Speranskaya has rallied a network of NGOs that has begun to safely identify and help dispose of much of the waste in the region.What inspired you to take on this work in the first place?Being born in Russia, I saw myself the sad consequences of the USSR's chemical policy. Countries of the region inherited huge tons of toxic waste, including tens of thousands of tons of obsolete pesticides that now pose a serious threat to human health and the environment in these countries. These abandoned stockpiles are often stored in broken-down sheds and warehouses, spilling out on the ground, unfenced, unprotected.What is the situation like now?Unfortunately the pollution is not just left over from the past, it continues now, thus threatening people and the environment. The governments themselves lack the capacity, financial resources, and political will to locate and finally eliminate the toxic chemicals. In countries with no history of democracy it was hard to expect a really strong public movement to begin to tackle toxic chemical pollution.What have you accomplished in your environmental efforts that you're most proud of?Our message-that no one can be safe from toxic impact, that everybody is affected, regardless of income or position in the society-was understood and supported not only by our partner organizations but also by far distant communities, living under pressure of toxic stockpiles, by governmental officials responsible for different issues of chemical safety, by academia, and by business representatives. In many cases we managed to refocus people's attention from pure economic interests to the interests of human health and the environment.What are the effects on poor communities of being so close to toxic waste?Our experience in working with these communities revealed serious health problems. For example in Georgia, in the regions of particularly intensive application of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals … our partner organization found a high incidence of skin and eye irritations, and endocrine disorders, reproductive disorders, and birth defects. I want to add that rich people as well as far distant communities can also be affected by toxic chemicals. Chemicals are carried by air and water flows to different parts of the world, far from the original source of toxic release. It is a global problem that has to be tackled locally, nationally, and internationally.Have you run into any opposition from the Kremlin? No, we have not faced opposition from the Kremlin. We have not faced opposition from the government of any other republics of the region, either.What are you working on next?We will continue working on chemical safety in the region with the goal to expand the number of organizations involved. We will focus on far distant communities and less educated groups.If you could be granted one wish, for yourself, your community, or the world, what would it be?I wish we could overcome the toxic legacy of the past and help our children start a new life where there will be no place for hazardous chemicals, ever after.
NORTH AMERICA
EUROPE
Winner: Olga SperanskayaLocation: Moscow, RussiaOccupation: Head of Program on Chemical Safety of the Russian NGO Eco-AccordMany countries in the former Soviet Union have long been stockpiles of toxic waste, with unpleasant legacies that to this day threaten the health of people and the environment. Russian scientist Olga Speranskaya has rallied a network of NGOs that has begun to safely identify and help dispose of much of the waste in the region.What inspired you to take on this work in the first place?Being born in Russia, I saw myself the sad consequences of the USSR's chemical policy. Countries of the region inherited huge tons of toxic waste, including tens of thousands of tons of obsolete pesticides that now pose a serious threat to human health and the environment in these countries. These abandoned stockpiles are often stored in broken-down sheds and warehouses, spilling out on the ground, unfenced, unprotected.What is the situation like now?Unfortunately the pollution is not just left over from the past, it continues now, thus threatening people and the environment. The governments themselves lack the capacity, financial resources, and political will to locate and finally eliminate the toxic chemicals. In countries with no history of democracy it was hard to expect a really strong public movement to begin to tackle toxic chemical pollution.What have you accomplished in your environmental efforts that you're most proud of?Our message-that no one can be safe from toxic impact, that everybody is affected, regardless of income or position in the society-was understood and supported not only by our partner organizations but also by far distant communities, living under pressure of toxic stockpiles, by governmental officials responsible for different issues of chemical safety, by academia, and by business representatives. In many cases we managed to refocus people's attention from pure economic interests to the interests of human health and the environment.What are the effects on poor communities of being so close to toxic waste?Our experience in working with these communities revealed serious health problems. For example in Georgia, in the regions of particularly intensive application of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals … our partner organization found a high incidence of skin and eye irritations, and endocrine disorders, reproductive disorders, and birth defects. I want to add that rich people as well as far distant communities can also be affected by toxic chemicals. Chemicals are carried by air and water flows to different parts of the world, far from the original source of toxic release. It is a global problem that has to be tackled locally, nationally, and internationally.Have you run into any opposition from the Kremlin? No, we have not faced opposition from the Kremlin. We have not faced opposition from the government of any other republics of the region, either.What are you working on next?We will continue working on chemical safety in the region with the goal to expand the number of organizations involved. We will focus on far distant communities and less educated groups.If you could be granted one wish, for yourself, your community, or the world, what would it be?I wish we could overcome the toxic legacy of the past and help our children start a new life where there will be no place for hazardous chemicals, ever after.
