AWARD CEREMONY 2026 – Courage begins when knowledge becomes action
We proudly announce the laureates of the Courageous Scientists Award for Environmental and Climate Justice 2026!
On October 13 we honored our winners from the Brazilian Amazon, Japan, Nigeria, Honduras, New Caledonia (Oceania) and Ethiopia.
They received the award for their courageous fight against the pollution and destruction of livelihoods in the course of extractive megaprojects, especially in areas inhabited by indigenous peoples; for safeguarding biodiversity; for standing up for environmental and human rights; for fearlessly standing up to opposition and threats; and for inspiring and empowering other people to follow their path.
This year, for the first time, two additional honorary awards for lifetime achievement in the field of climate and environmental justice were presented.
Seble Samuel – Africa, Ethiopia
A community organizer and climate justice campaigner, she co-founded Lem Ketema (Amharic: “urban bloom” or “flourishing city”) to reclaim public space and traditional ecological practices and transform the right to the city across urban Ethiopia. As Head of Africa Campaigns and Advocacy at the global Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, she builds alternatives to the fossil economy alongside a mighty global movement.
Ana Laide Soares Barbosa, MA – South America, Brasilia
Fights alongside the movement Movimento Xingu Vivo para Sempre against exploitative mega-projects threatening the rivers, forests, and indigenous territories of the Xingu region.
Akino Miyagi – Asia, Japan
The butterfly researcher raises awareness about the environmental impact of US military bases despite state persecution. In 2025, she was sentenced to a three-year suspended prison term for civil disobedience.
Dr. Malik Oedin – Pacific, New Caledonia
Oceania’s leading bat researcher is honored for his work protecting biological diversity and involving local communities through the organization Gardiens Des Îles.
Berta Cáceres – South America, Honduras
Honored for her selfless resistance against the Agua Zarca dam project to protect the indigenous Lenca people. Cáceres was shot dead in 2016. Investigations exposed a top-level plot by dam operating company DESA, leading to convictions of seven co-conspirators and, in 2022, the sentencing of its CEO as the mastermind.
Dr. h.c. Nnimmo Bassey – Africa, Nigeria
Honored for decades of dedication against the ecological and human rights consequences of oil extraction in the Niger Delta. (Right Livelihood Award Laureate 2010).
THE AWARD
Each year, scientists from across the globe receive the Courageous Scientists Award for Climate and Environmental Justice. We honor committed scientists who fight for justice in the face of escalating environmental and climate collapse, continuing their research and outreach despite resistance from powerful groups. With this award, we want to raise global awareness of the work of the award laureates and improve their working conditions. In this year, two additional honorary awards for lifetime achievement will be presented.
Focus on the Global South
We especially recognize research and outreach in countries and regions that suffer the worst consequences of ecological injustice. Scientists there often take great personal risks. By honoring them, we are also reminding researchers in privileged countries that they have an even greater responsibility to inform the public about existential ecological and social crises, as well as to tell those in power the unvarnished truth. In an increasingly anti-science political and media climate, the Courageous Scientists Award sends a clear message: Even under the most difficult conditions, it is possible to refuse to be silenced and to stand up to those responsible for ecocide and terracide.
Who will be honoured?
A scientist from each continent will be honored annually. Scientists are nominated by an international nomination jury, with the selection jury in Vienna choosing the laureates. The award laureates will form the nomination jury for the award in the following year. Starting in 2026, two additional honorary awards for lifetime achievement will be presented. For the first year, our scientific advisory board appointed an independent international jury of scientists. Read more about the criteria and process for awarding the prize here.
Donor and prize amount
The non-profit association Forum ökosoziale Transformationen (Vienna) has donated the prize money for this year. Each award laureate receives €5,000 to support their work. If the circle of donors expands, this amount may be increased. The award is presented at a public event that is live streamed annually in autumn. That refers to the “climate and environmental emergency“, the European Parliament declared first on 28.11.2019. The work of the award laureates is documented online.
Statements of Support
“Nobody has greater responsibility to stand up to injustice than scientists, who have knowledge of causes and consequences. Thank you for drawing attention to this important role of science.”
Jim Hansen, Director
Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions Program
Columbia University Earth Institute
“At a time when the wellbeing of people and planet are buried under the weight of profit, oppression and denialism, we need scientists of courage and conscience to propel action to tackle the polycrisis at the roots.”
Dr. h.c. Nnimmo Bassey
Environmental Justice campaigner, Wallenberg Medal Winner 2024, Rafto Human Rights Prize 2012, Right Livelihood Winner 2010, architect, writer/poet and Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation.
“When pride and greed are driving the destruction of our beautiful planet, then the insight and courage to defend what’s true, really deserves our praise and emulation. This prize reminds us of the good in the world. Congratulations to everyone involved.”
Prof. Jem Bendell PhD.
Emeritus Professor, University of Cumbria
Farm Co-Founder, Bekandze Farm School
Senior Distinguished Fellow, Schumacher Institute
Band Leader, Barefoot Stars
“The climate crisis is not a crisis of nature alone – it is a mirror of power. Those who have burned the most now ask the rest to breathe less. True courage in science lies in naming this imbalance, in restoring reason to power, and in challenging the coloniality that still shapes who suffers and who decides. The oldest moral order endures: those who damage the world must bear the greater duty to repair it—and to honour that duty not in words, but in action.”
Dr Fortunate Machingura, Director and Head of Climate, Environment & Health, CeSHHAR Zimbabwe.
Lecturer, Climate Change and Health: Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
“It is always important to uncover the truths behind the truths. In doing so, the truth-seeker must refrain from acting on their own impulses, but at the same time, despite their mistrust of themselves, they must cultivate a new sense of curiosity. This requires courage. A lot of courage. All the courage they can muster. We should be able to see such courage and applaud those who display it.”
Marlene Streeruwitz, author
“It is high time to declare courage an essential scientific discipline.”
Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber wishes the entire organizing team a successful event and the award winners the public recognition they deserve.
“Science isn’t short on data, studies, or knowledge — about problems and solutions. What it is short on: plain language, courage, and political engagement for change. Thanks for honoring not what’s abundant, but what’s urgently needed.”
Assoz.Prof. Dr. Reinhard Steurer, MA, MPP, Associate Professor for climate politics at BOKU University Vienna/Austria
“Climate change has imposed deeply unfair conditions on those who contributed the least to its causes. Addressing these injustices requires courageous scientists willing to confront the challenges and stand up against inequity.”
Michael Staudinger, Meteorologist, former head of the Austrian Central Institute of Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG)
“This award is urgently needed, and I hope it will be a great encouragement to the winners and nominees to continue their excellent work.”
Prof. Dr. Ilona Otto, Professor of Social Impacts of Climate Change at the Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change at the University of Graz
“Courage drives the fight against climate breakdown by turning knowledge into action despite risks. Climate science reveals the truths, and activism ensures these truths transform policy, society, and our planet’s future.”
Oliver Ressler, artist and filmmaker, Vienna
“Science needs courage and attitude. Especially in difficult times. Therefore, this award is particularly important. My warmest congratulations to the award winners”
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Franz Essl, Vienna University
“Even in liberal democracies, only a few manage to overcome their fear and show moral courage. In times of war, unchecked environmental destruction, when the winds of dictatorship blow in our faces and threaten to engulf us, it becomes a heroic act, because everyone who practices it puts their existence at risk. Those who overcome fear deserve the affection of those who have none.”
Edgar Honetschläger, artist, filmmaker and environmental activist
“The creation of the “Courageous Scientists Award” for climate change is a truly path-breaking idea. It recognises that the world does not only need science — it needs extraordinary scientists who stand their ground, who use the best of science and knowledge to influence society and help bring about the change our world so urgently needs. Thank you for establishing this important award. I extend my best wishes to the six award winners from across all continents — and my deepest appreciation for the invaluable work that you do.Thank you for establishing this important award. I extend my best wishes to the six award winners from across all continents — and my deepest appreciation for the invaluable work that you do.“
Sunita Narain, Director General, Centre for Science and Environment
“With temperatures having increased more than 1°C in 250 years, we live exceptional times. It is therefore important that scientists take exceptional action. I welcome the institution of the Courageous Scientist Award to recognize the need to make the extraordinary become ordinary.“
Prof. Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua
Professor of International Law
University of Ghana School of Law
“This prize is very important and I congratulate and thank Dr. Mayr for providing it and the recipients for their work on behalf of our planet and all of us. It is so important, especially at this time of so much regression to domination of our planet and people, to speak up with courage and conviction. We can all together create a world of partnership and peace.”
Riane Eisler
President of the Center for Partnership Systems
Our Laureates from 2025
On November 15 2025 we honored our laureates from Peru, Nigeria, Italy, Pacific Islands, and USA. The five laureates from five continents received the award: for their courageous fight against the pollution and destruction of livelihoods in the course of oil production and pipelines, especially in areas inhabited by indigenous peoples; against corruption involving extractive industries and government actors; against the failure of state administrations in the field of climate policy; for transformative change and the protection of human rights in the climate crisis.
To get to the press material in English and German click here.
Olanrewaju Suraju – Africa, Nigeria
Olanrewaju Suraju is a prominent Nigerian human rights and environmental activist, known for his courageous work in anti-corruption, climate justice, and civic accountability. As Chairman of HEDA Resource Centre, he leads campaigns that expose environmental degradation, illicit financial flows and governance failures across West Africa. He has played a key role in advocating for transparency in extractive industries and pushing for climate-resilient policies that protect vulnerable communities.
For Olanrewaju ‘’courage in science means standing up for and defending evidence-based truth when it is unpopular or faces resistance or attack from powerful interests. It requires questioning established norms, advocating for ethical interrogation, and persistence in the pursuit of a cause in the face of vicissitude and personal risk.’’ He is no stranger to exhibiting courage having faced threats and legal intimidation for his outspoken stance against corruption and environmental injustice, notably in high-profile cases involving multinational corporations and government actors. Despite these challenges, he continues to mobilize civil society, engage international institutions, and empower grassroots movements to demand accountability and sustainability.
Dr. Elisa Privitera – Europe, Italy
Elisa (Lizzy) Privitera engages with ‘’climate and environmental crises through a critical, intersectional lens, while also grounding that perspective in real-world problems and collaborative efforts to envision just, actionable solutions.’’ Her doctoral work focused on the city of Gela in her native Sicily, a town grappling with the aftermath of a decommissioned petrochemical plant. Lizzy worked with residents to map the effects of pollution, trigger conversations around new possibilities and develop recommendations to reverse unjust trajectories of development. Just like the anti-Mafia activists who have inspired her, Lizzy does not shy away from unveiling and speaking out about unjust power relationships shaping Sicilian landscapes and contexts.
Lizzy started as a post-doctoral fellow at the Canada Excellence Research Chair Network for Equity in Sustainability Transitions on September 1st. Before that she had been a post-doctoral researcher at the Just Transitions in Action Project at the University of Toronto Scarborough, where she co-led the Listening Project, a community-based research initiative that aims to work with community partners to understand and envision equitable transitions. Specifically she is looking to understand how climate policy aimed at achieving net-zero aligns with the daily concerns and aspirations of residents in Scarborough, a diverse working class borough on the edge of Toronto. She strongly believes that courageous scientists not only generate knowledge to support fair socio-technological transitions, but to also repair past harms and to heal wounded relationships.
Dr. Rose Abramoff, North America, United States
Dr. Rose Abramoff is an assistant professor of forest science at the University of Maine in the northeastern United States. Her research focuses on how climate change and human land use affect the land carbon cycle, particularly below ground components like plant roots and soil, combining field and laboratory measurements with modelling.
Rose dedicated herself to climate-related research because she wanted to contribute to solving the global problem of our times by ”discovering truths and communicating them to policymakers, who would listen carefully to me and take appropriate action.” When she realized that despite the mounting evidence and warnings from scientists like herself, governments were not acting, she decided to chain herself to the White House fence with other scientists during the Scientist Day of Rebellion in 2022, demanding that President Biden declare a climate emergency. Her inspiration for participating in civil disobedience was climate scientist and former Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, James Hansen, who had chained himself to the very same fence back in 2013 to protest the expansion of a crude oil pipeline.
Since then she has participated in a number of civil disobedience actions; at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting in December 2022, an association of 60,000 earth and space scientists, Rose and her fellow scientist Peter Kalmus unfurled a banner with the message, “Out of the lab & into the streets” just before the speakers joined the stage. Her employer at the time, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory fired her. Rose continues to push scientific institutions to support activism and advocacy of experts. She also helps her fellow scientists acknowledge and address their emotions around the climate crisis in order to turn grief and fear into hope.
Olivia Bisa Tirko – South America, Chapra Nation, Peru
Olivia Bisa Tirko is the Indigenous leader and first female president of the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Chapra Nation in Datem del Marañón Province, Loreto, Peru. Since assuming leadership in mid-2022, she has recentred the role of women in the Peruvian Amazon in addressing social and cultural issues and as keepers of ancestral knowledge. She sees the science of her people as ”a living science that teaches how to sustain life, not how to dominate it,” which is reflected in her efforts to protect the environment and future generations from the colonial disruption of their cultural practices.
Olivia has demanded remediation for oil spills, which have contaminated water sources that sustained fishing livelihoods and food supplies for her community. She has also successfully stopped the state-owned Petroperu from attracting financing from international banks to expand an oil field during their most recent bid attempt in May of this year, working closely with
other Indigenous leaders and international campaigners.
For Olivia, ”courage in science is the ability to uphold truth and knowledge in the face of fear, violence, and imposition. It is having the strength to continue observing, researching, speaking, and acting, even when doing so puts one’s life at risk.” She has been included on national lists of Indigenous defenders under serious threat, with the safety of her and her two young children in grave jeopardy.
Cynthia Houniuhi – Pacific, Pacific Islands
Cynthia Houniuhi, an Indigenous lawyer and lecturer from the Solomon Islands, thought big with 26 of her fellow law students at the University of the South Pacific back in 2019 – they created the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC) in order to seek an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the obligations of states regarding climate change, including from a human rights perspective. As she wrote us, ”courage means choosing to pursue a pathway that you believe can add to your cause even when all the odds are against you!”
Lecturer Justin Rose, whose course had motivated the students to take on climate justice from a legal perspective, was able to convince the small island state of Vanuatu to be an official state sponsor. Thereafter Cynthia and her fellow students attended international climate meetings with activists from around the globe to lobby states to join their efforts. It paid off – 132 countries agreed to co-sponsor a resolution before the UN General Assembly, calling on the ICJ to provide its opinion on two key questions: what obligations do states have to tackle climate change under international law and what are the legal consequences if they fail to do so?
In November 2024 Cynthia spoke at the ICJ’s public hearing in November 2024, telling the court how her people’s land of Fanalei was disappearing due to rising seas. “Without our land, our bodies and memories are severed from the fundamental relationships that define who we are,” she said. In July 2025 the ICJ made a historic ruling, deciding that those suffering the impacts of the climate crisis have the right to sue and demand compensation.
Click here to find out more about the Laureates or to watch the Ceremony 2025
ABOUT US
Nomination Jury
- Dr. Rose Abramoff for North America, United States
- Cathryn Eatock, MA – Founder and Co-Chair, Indigenous Peoples’ Organisation-Australia, Sydney, Australia for Australia / Oceania / Pacific Region
- Dr. Elisa Privitera for Europe
- Farhana Sultana, Ph.D. for Asia
- Olanrewaju Suraju for Africa
Selection Jury
- Dr. Ernst Fürlinger, Head of the Scientific Advisory Board
- Lorena E. Olarte, MA
- Martino San Martin
- Dr. Michael Staudinger
- Dr. Mariam A. Wagialla
Founder and Donor
- Dr. Norbert Mayr, Founder
- “Forum Eco-Social Transformations” (Forum ökosoziale Transformationen), Donor
CONTACT
Dr. Norbert Mayr, Founder Forum ökosoziale Transformationen: contact@courageousscientistsaward.org
For press material, click here. For inquiries, please contact: press@courageousscientistsaward.org