Green Prize of the Americas 2003

Green Prize of the Americas - 2002

The Green Prize of the Americas, announced at the opening ceremonies of the II Environmental Summit of the Americas, hosted by Palíber in Belo Horizonte, MG – Brazil.  The Prize was given out not only to honor the recipient, but also motivate the many people who have dedicated so much of their effort in favor of the environment, both for the quality of life on the planet and for the recovery of the environment.  The recipients were chosen from the names of those that were indicated for consideration by a number of institutions and international persons.  These names were then analyzed based on a number of factors and aspects by a highly knowledgeable judging commission.  The recipients were:  

The order of the people in the photograph corresponds to the order of the text below.

1 – Lindolfo Barbosa Lima. Attorney, ex-Guardian of the Environment for the jurisdiction of Formiga, a town in Minas Gerais.  Currently, Lindolfo works as an attorney in Uberaba – MG.  He has faced many situations where environmental abuse was involved.  He has become one of the most important leaders in passing on solutions to the public, resulting in a pioneering method of dealing with social-environmental issues.  “What I believe is that we have exchanged the foxes watching over the eggs, for animals less hungry and aggressive.”, he suggested upon defending the idea that councils be separated from municipalities.  

2 – Marcos Terena.  Director of Funai’s Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  Founder of  Brazilian Indigenous Movement.  Representative for Indigenous Rights along with United Nations.  Commission Counselor for Indigenous Intellectual Property.  Organizer of the World Conference of Indigenous People during Rio – 92.  He currently works as a lecturer at national and international environmental meetings such as, Earth Summit – Brasilia, 2000, World Conference for the Environment and Sustainable Development.  “When you pass on and go to Heaven – bring a mop, bucket and water, because the sky is dirty.  There is a huge amount of pollution up there.  Just look at the ozone.”, quipped Terena.

3 – Pierre Weil.  Psychologist and French Educator.  President of the City of Peace Foundation and Dean of the International Holistic University in Brasilia.  He has studied at the University of Geneva, Lyon and Paris, where he acquired a doctorate degree in Psychology.  Professor Emeritus at the University of Minas Gerais.  Received the UNESCO Award for Education in Peace.  Founder of the Brazilian Association of Applied Psychology and President of the Society of Psychology in Minas Gerais.  He has lectured extensively on the subjects of Science, Nature and Man.  “When two people meet – it is not simply two people.  There are four – since everyone, man and woman – has within them the other – woman and man.”, said Weil, quoting Freud.

4 – Paula Saldanha.  Paula is a journalist and writer, and has published more than 40 books, most of which approach environmental and social issues within our country.  She has worked as text editor, reporter and presenter for the Globo TV network.  In the last 18 years, she has developed an independent work of a series of programs for television – Expeditions – shown on the Culture TV (Educational TV) channel for the Brasil TV Network.  She is president of the Blue Earth Institute and director of RW Video, with a collection of 25 years of documentation on Brazil and its people.  “The thing that is destroying the nature is not the actions that seek to produce food or goods for basic consumption, but consumerism and exaggeration that create a world of packaging and other superfluous waste.”, stated Saldanha referring to social and material waste products.

5 – Ambassador Sara Faingezicht Waisleder de Gloobe.  Costa Rica.  Degree in Political Science and International Relations from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.  Interdisciplinary course in Human Rights.  Special Mission Ambassador for the United Nations and Organization of American Nations, OAN.  Honored by King Juan Carlos of Spain with the ‘Isabel the Catholic’ Order.  She has taken part in many environmental protection and preservation projects in Costa Rica.  “Twenty eight percent of the area of my country, Costa Rica, are protected by law and forty percent of our total area is still covered by rain forest.  Remember: RESULTS, before WORK, only exists in the dictionary.”, stressed Sara.

6 – Ambassador Ion Floroiu.  He has worked as Division Chief of Western Europe in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Romania.  He has also passed through the Romanian Embassies in Paris and Lisbon.  He has defended in a number of circumstances a sustainable development for Romania and Europe, highlighting the necessity of environmental balance on the planet.  

7 – Ambassador Stratos Doukas.  Greece.  Specialist in International Law for the International Academy in Haia.  Ambassador in Mexico, by way of American and German Embassies.  Motivator for the Conference of Sustainable Development and the Environment of the Mediterranean.  He has participated in many environmental protection and preservation projects in Greece.  “In my country, Greece, at least .02 of GNP (Gross National Product) goes to investing in projects and/or organizations around the world that fight to save the environment.”, he stated.

8 – Eliseu Roberto de Andrade Alves.  Ph.D. from Purdue University, USA.  Founder, ex-president and researcher for Embrapa.  He is world-renowned as a scientist and administrator of science and technology.  While at Embrapa, he began new, advanced lines of research based on the principle that technology had to be biological and economically possible.  Based on this, he created the biological control of plagues, biological fixation of nitrogen and agro-ecological zoning of Brazilian crops.