Awarding the Future with Michael Sutton, Goldman Environmental Prize

Welcome to Planet & Purpose, a bi-weekly LinkedIn Newsletter featuring professional insights and personal experiences from ocean and climate ecopreneurs, VCs, advocates, and beyond.

If you’re new to my page and this newsletter, welcome! I’m Daniela V. Fernandez , Founder & CEO of Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA).

Today I am joined by Michael Sutton , Executive Director of the Goldman Environmental Foundation, perhaps best known for its Goldman Environmental Prize . Referred to as the ‘Nobel Prize for the Environment’, the Goldman Environmental Prize is awarded every year to six extraordinary grassroots environmental champions on each continent.

35 years since the prize was first awarded, we explore the ripple effects of this crucial work, identify common characteristics of Goldman winners, and inspire future generations to get involved.

Dive into our fascinating interview and stay tuned for exclusive upcoming conversations!

Daniela (DVF): Welcome to Planet & Purpose, Mike! It’s great to have you with us today.

For anyone who is unfamiliar with you and your work, you serve as Executive Director of the Goldman Environmental Foundation (and its namesake prize). 

Let’s first begin with how your lived and professional experience led you to this calling.

Mike Sutton (MS): Thank you so much for having me, Daniela. It’s a pleasure to join the ranks of Planet & Purpose interviewees—and I love what you’re doing with this newsletter.

You could say this work runs in my family. Both of my parents were National Park rangers, and I grew up joining them on various outdoor adventures around the country. With degrees in Wildlife Biology and Law, and a long career in environmental leadership, I have spent my professional life protecting the planet—especially our ocean.

What excites me about the Goldman Environmental Prize is the work of the Prize winners and their ability to inspire people all over the world. Through hard work and dedication, they are making real, tangible change. It’s a privilege to champion and support frontline individuals.

DVF: Growing up in Ecuador surrounded by untouched nature and biodiversity, I resonate deeply with how connected you’ve been to the outdoors since childhood and how it inspired your career. 

And I feel the same way; it’s an honor to support Ecopreneurs at Sustainable Ocean Alliance.

Now, can you tell readers about the Goldman Environmental Prize, from its history to its impact?

MS: Happy to. The Goldman Environmental Prize (or the ‘Prize’) was founded in 1989 by San Francisco philanthropists Richard and Rhoda Goldman to honor the achievements and leadership of grassroots environmental heroes from around the world. This April, we were thrilled to celebrate the Prize’s 35th anniversary. 

The Prize recognizes individuals from the world’s six inhabited continental regions for significant efforts to protect and enhance the natural environment; oceans and coasts being a key issue area among others. 

Through recognizing these individual leaders, the Prize seeks to inspire ordinary people everywhere to take extraordinary actions to protect the natural world and our planet.

DVF: Wow, 35 years of excellence! Before the climate crisis was as understood as it is today, and certainly before climate solutions took center stage, the Goldmans stand out as visionary philanthropists. I’m so impressed and inspired by their longstanding commitment to environmental and ocean advocacy. 

Aligned with that, let’s reflect on and celebrate the cumulative impact of Prize Awardees to date.

MS: Over 35 years, the Goldman Environmental Prize has celebrated 226 activists from 95 countries (including 102 women) working across a variety of environmental issues, advocating for progress, facilitating local engagement, and demanding systemic change.

20 awardees have worked on issues specifically related to our ocean and coasts. 

Their achievements are diverse and profound and have inspired countless other activists to protect and champion our seas.

DVF: Thank you for that perfect segue. Let’s dive into the 2024 ‘Ocean & Coasts’ category winners!

MS: I’d love to. This year, we had two of six winners falling under the ‘Ocean & Coasts’ category.

First, hailing from South Africa are Sinegugu Zukulu and Nonhle Mbuthuma, who stopped destructive seismic testing off of the nation’s Wild Coast. This both protected the region’s rich marine ecosystem and wildlife and prevented additional oil and gas extraction which would have exacerbated climate change.

They’re a perfect example of how, more often than not, the work of winners is interdisciplinary and cuts across other environmental issues. In our natural world, when you tug at one thread, it affects many.

DVF: That’s a great metaphor and one that I can attest to. Many of SOA’s solutions—both for-profit and not-for-profit initiatives—are solving issues with impact that extends beyond the ocean.

Similarly, how is winning the Prize interconnected with winners’ securing new or scaled opportunities to make a difference?

MS: We hear time and time again that one of the most significant benefits of the Goldman Environmental Prize is how it calls attention to the pressing environmental challenges and solutions of our time.

The announcement of each year’s winners generates media recognition and provides winners with a global platform to amplify their stories. While we award the Prize for retrospective achievements, the majority of Prize winners continue their work in the field, empowered by the boost in gravitas they receive.

There are many honors for the powerful and famous, but few for grassroots activists on the frontlines.

An example of this would be the continued impact of Howard Wood from Scotland (2015 Goldman Environmental Prize Winner). He established the first community-developed Marine Protected Area (MPA) in Scotland. He continues to push for sustainable, locally managed fisheries through his organization, the Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST).

And now, Howard and COAST have been featured alongside celebrities like Martha Stewart, Shailene Woodley, and others in a new PBS documentary series, Hope in the Water, which just debuted last week.

DVF: I can’t wait to watch the docuseries, I’m seeing lots of ocean sector chatter about it on LinkedIn!

Besides those you just mentioned, are there other examples of Oceans & Coasts winners whose impact has had broader ripple effects since the time they were first recognized?

MS: Absolutely. Luis Jorge Rivera Herrera (2016 Goldman Environmental Prize Winner), who created a nature reserve in Puerto Rico, recently began working with the U.S. EPA to advocate for environmental justice in the territory. 

Meanwhile, the scale of 2019 Goldman Environmental Prize Winner Jaqueline Evans’ victory speaks for itself.

Her grassroots organizing led to the creation of the Cook Islands’ enormous Marae Moana Marine Park. Today, it safeguards 125,000 square miles of ocean from large-scale commercial fishing and other harmful practices.

DVF: Small world! I had the honor of interviewing Liam Kokaʻua , an Indigenous ocean advocate from The Cook Islands, who touched on Jacqueline’s work in his edition of Planet & Purpose here.

I noticed there was another 2024 Oceans & Coasts category winner. What made their work special?

MS: While Goldman Prize winners are united by their passion for environmental progress, their achievements are quite diverse. 2024 Prize winner Teresa Vicente is a perfect example.

She is a Spanish law professor who won a case granting legal rights to the Mar Menor in Southeast Spain—Europe’s largest saltwater lagoon. This was a precedent-setting legislative victory for Europe.

Teresa’s legal creativity and dedication to gathering over 640,000 signatures during the COVID-19 pandemic set her apart and demonstrated the power of grassroots activism demonstrated the power of grassroots activism.

DVF: I want young ocean leaders to identify with and see themselves in the ocean advocates who’ve won the Prize. Hopefully, their stories spark a desire to make an ocean career leap!

From your experience working with these environmental heroes, is there any shared characteristic or universal truth when it comes to the Goldman Environmental Prize winners?

MS: Each of the Prize winners is characterized by exemplary courage, grit, and leadership. By creating positive change at the local level, they are the catalysts for our global environmental movement.

To those questioning whether to take the leap into the environmental field, we need your participation and innovation to defend the environment and win the battle against climate change—at every level.

Incidentally, that includes starting sustainable ocean-related businesses, as it’s vital to engage commerce itself as a force to protect our ocean.

DVF: This year, a large group of students attended the Goldman Environmental Prize awards ceremony. Why is it so important to ensure next-generation environmental leaders have a seat at the table?

MS: In fact, this past April more than 250 middle and high school students attended the San Francisco award ceremony, as well as more than 75 college and graduate students from all over the world.

Prior to the ceremony, students participated in a fireside chat with a couple of the Goldman Prize winners, where they asked questions and heard directly from the recipients.

By exposing young people to global environmental issues and allowing them to meet leaders in the field from their part of the world, we believe we can inspire the next generation to become advocates amongst their peers.

DVF: Mike, I couldn’t think of a more appropriate way to wrap up our conversation. Thank you.

For everything Goldman is doing to champion solutions for our planet and ocean and bringing young people into the fold of the environmental, climate, and ocean community.

MS: It’s our pleasure. Thank you for the work you’re doing at Sustainable Ocean Alliance to identify and support ocean advocates. I look forward to remaining in touch and continuing to share inspiring stories of ocean and coastal activists making waves across our networks.

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BECOME A GOLDMAN ENVIRONMENTAL PRIZE NOMINATOR

The Goldman Environmental Prize relies on a network of expert nominating partners around the world to identify a diverse cohort of grassroots environmental changemakers in every region. Nominators are invited based on their expertise, experience, and proximity to grassroots environmental activism. Each prospective nominator is vetted and formally onboarded by Prize staff.

Individuals or organizations interested in being considered to serve as nominators for the Prize should email a letter of request and current CV (if available) to nominations@goldmanprize.org.

Please note: The Goldman Prize does not accept unsolicited nominations. Nominations must be submitted by an approved nominator.

OPPORTUNITIES IN SOA’S NETWORK

DUE SOON: APPLY TO THE BLUE PROSPERITY ENTREPRENEUR FELLOWSHIP

SOA and Blue Prosperity Micronesia are actively seeking entrepreneurs and sustainable businesses based in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) to apply to our Blue Prosperity Entrepreneur Fellowship—a year-long fellowship to support emerging leaders advancing local ocean and community health.

Applicants can receive a grant of up to $8,000 to support their projects as well as access to capacity-building workshops and 1:1 mentorship.

Learn more and apply here by July 7, 2024.