Indian Environmentalist Madhav Gadgil receives UNEP’s Lifetime Achievement Award 2024

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has awarded prominent Indian Environmentalist Madhav Gadgil with the Lifetime Achievement Award. This is the United Nations’ highest environmental honour. Gadgil now joins the hall of fame with other esteemed laureates such as David Attenborough and Joan Carling.

In total six people have been the recipients of the Champions of the Earth 2024 Award.

They are Amy Bowers Cordalis, Gabriel Paun for Inspiration and Action; Lu Qi for Science and Innovation; Sekem for Entrepreneurial Vision, and Sonia Guajajara in Policy Leadership.

The announcement was shared by the United Nations’ Mission in India in a post on X.

“Indian ecologist Madhav Gadgil is among the six @UNEP Champions of the Earth 2024, who are at the forefront of efforts to restore the #environment. Join the #EarthChamps to defend our planet. We are #GenerationRestoration”

As per the UNEP, Madhav Gadgil has authored seven books and over 200 scientific papers. His landmark work, famous as the Gadgil Report, called for the protection of India’s ecologically sensitive Western Ghats mountain range.

The UNEP quoted Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme on highlighting Gadgil’s achievements.

“Science can help us find solutions to the devastating loss of nature our world is experiencing. Madhav Gadgil has demonstrated this for decades,” said Andersen.

“His work has advanced conservation while demonstrating a deep respect for people and community knowledge, bringing to the fore lasting solutions for some of India’s most-pressing environmental challenges”, he added.

In the course of his career, at the Indian Institute of Science, Gadgil founded the Centre for Ecological Sciences. One of his biggest achievements through the centre was the establishment of India’s first biosphere reserve, the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in 1986, the UNEP noted.

UNEP observed that Gadgil has been a member of several government agencies and committees, including the Prime Minister’s Scientific Advisory Council. He was one of the architects of India’s Biological Diversity Act and was involved in the implementation of the Forest Rights Act. With these laws, Gadgil has helped forest communities establish registers to monitor biodiversity in local ecosystems.

Gadgil’s wide-ranging contributions throughout the years have earned him some of India’s highest civilian honours, including the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan as well as the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement and the Volvo Environment Prize, the UNEP noted in its statement.