Message From the UNEP Executive Director

Since it's creation, the UNEP Sasakawa Prize has honoured outstanding achievement in environmental thought and action.  In a world where the environment is increasingly recognised as the foundation for all our future aspirations, and where ecosystem degradation is acting as a roadblock on the path to sustainable development, we need more than ever to reward and encourage tomorrow’s leaders.

The UNEP Sasakawa Prize nurtures innovation, research, initiatives and ideas by offering prestige, publicity and financial support.  Each year we choose a winner related to an annual environmental theme. Among the elements that will guide our search for a winner are sustainability and replicability, for only by being able to plant the seeds of sustainable progress in all regions of our fragile planet can we hope to bequeath a world fit for future generations. 

I look forward to working with our esteemed panel and jury as we review the candidates for the 2010 UNEP Sasakawa Prize, and I thank The Nippon Foundation for their steadfast and continued support.