The UN Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC) has announced that European Commissioner for Environment Janez Potočnik is a 2013 recipient of the UN Champions of the Earth Award.
Potočnik will receive the award for Policy Leadership, in recognition of his commitment to an inclusive green economy and boosting resource efficiency across the EU, specifically in respect to food waste.
17 September 2013: The UN Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC) has announced that European Commissioner for Environment Janez Potočnik is a 2013 recipient of the UN Champions of the Earth Award. Potočnik will receive the award for Policy Leadership, in recognition of his commitment to an inclusive green economy and boosting resource efficiency across the EU, specifically in respect to food waste.
According to UNRIC, under Potočnik’s leadership, the EU has set targets to halve food waste and practically eliminate landfill by 2020.
The Champions of the Earth prize is organized by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and seeks to honor people who have had a positive impact on environmental protection while pursuing sustainable growth, such as by helping to improve the management of natural resources, promoting the shift to a green economy, demonstrating new ways to raise awareness of emerging environmental challenges, and bringing sustainable development to under-served communities through grassroots initiatives.
Other winners of the 2013 Champions of the Earth award include: Google Earth; Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food Movement; Izabella Teixeira, Minister of Environment, Brazil; Veerabhadran Ramanathan, Professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD; Jack Dangermond, founder of the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI); and Martha Isabel Ruiz Corzo from the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve in Mexico. [UNRIC Press Release] [UNEP Press Release, 17 September] [UNEP Press Release, 18 September] [Champions of the Earth Website]