Winners of the 8th MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity 2024

The 2020 MIDORI Prize Winners

Vera Voronova (Kazakhstan)

Executive Director, Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhst

Ysabel Agustina Calderón Carlos (Peru)

Founder and CEO of Sumak Kawsay, an environmental enterprise

01 October 2024 – The AEON Environmental Foundation and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) are pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity:

• Ms. Vera Voronova, Executive Director, Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan; and

• Ms. Ysabel Agustina Calderón Carlos, Founder and CEO of Sumak Kawsay, an environmental enterprise, Peru.

The MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity is a prestigious biennial international prize organized by the AEON Environmental Foundation and the CBD Secretariat. It is awarded to biodiversity champions in several sectors of activities and from local to global levels.

The prize reflects the need for the whole-of-society approach that underpins the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its 23 targets for achievement by 2030. Today’s announcement brings to 19 the number of individuals from 17 countries who have received the prize. Each winner is awarded a commemorative gift and a plaque, and a monetary prize of USD 100,000 to support their work in safeguarding biodiversity.

The founder of the prize, Takuya Okada, Honorary Chairman of AEON Environmental Foundation and Honorary Chairman and Advisor, AEON Co., Ltd., said:“The conservation of biodiversity and the prevention of climate change are considered two of the most important environmental issues of the present day. The Foundation hopes that this prize will contribute to these global environmental issues and to achieving the global goals set forth in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in December 2022.”

Astrid Schomaker, CBD Executive Secretary remarked: “It is crucial to take tangible and innovative actions that demonstrate how the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework through a whole-of-society approach can become a reality. This year’s winners have developed initiatives that can benefit people and nature, at the local and international levels. Congratulations to Vera Voronova and Ysabel Agustina Calderón Carlos whose groundbreaking solutions epitomize the commitment we need to fulfill the vision of humanity living in harmony with nature”.

The Prize will be awarded on 29 October 2024, from 18:30 to 19:00 local time, in 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 30 October 2024, between 15:00 and 18:00 local time.