Kristal Ambrose | |
---|---|
Citizenship | Bahamian |
Occupation(s) | Marine biologist, environmental activist |
Awards | Goldman Environmental Prize (2020) |
Kristal Ambrose is a Bahamian marine biologist and environmental activist. [1] In 2013, she founded the Bahamas Plastic Movement, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing plastic pollution. [2]
In April 2018, Ambrose successfully convinced the government of the Bahamas to ban single-use plastic bags, straws, cutlery, and expanded polystyrene cups and containers. The nationwide ban came into effect in January 2020. [3] She gained international recognition for her efforts to combat plastic pollution in the Bahamas, culminating in her receipt of the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2020. [4] Ambrose's initiatives have notably engaged local youth in environmental advocacy. [5]
The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is a country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and 88% of its population. The archipelagic country consists of more than 3,000 islands, cays, and islets in the Atlantic Ocean, and is located north of Cuba and northwest of the island of Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos Islands, southeast of the U.S. state of Florida, and east of the Florida Keys. The capital is Nassau on the island of New Providence. The Royal Bahamas Defence Force describes The Bahamas' territory as encompassing 470,000 km2 (180,000 sq mi) of ocean space.
The Goldman Environmental Prize is a prize awarded annually to grassroots environmental activists, one from each of the world's six geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, and South and Central America. The award is given by the Goldman Environmental Foundation headquartered in San Francisco, California. The Prize is often referred to as the green Nobel.
A drinking straw is a utensil that is intended to carry the contents of a beverage to one's mouth. Disposable straws are commonly made from plastics. However, environmental concerns related to plastic pollution and new regulation have led to rise in reusable and biodegradable straws. Following a rise in regulation and public concern, some companies have even voluntarily banned or reduced the number of plastic straws used. Alternative straws are often made of reusable materials like silicone or metal or alternative disposable and biodegradable materials like paper, cardboard, pasta, or bamboo.
Thailand's dramatic economic growth has caused numerous environmental issues. The country faces problems with air, declining wildlife populations, deforestation, soil erosion, water scarcity, and waste issues. According to a 2004 indicator, the cost of air and water pollution for the country scales up to approximately 1.6–2.6% of GDP per year. As such, Thailand's economic growth has come at great cost in damage to its people and environment.
Formosa Plastics Corporation is a Taiwanese plastics company based in Taiwan that primarily produces polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resins and other intermediate plastic products. It is the corporation around which influential businessman Wang Yung-ching formed the Formosa Plastics Group, and it remains central to the Group's petrochemical operations. The president of Formosa Plastics Corp. (FPC) is Jason Lin (林健男).
Stephanie Jutta Schwabe is a geomicrobiologist. She completed a Ph.D. in the biogeochemical investigation of caves within the Bahamian carbonate platforms, commonly referred to as blue holes. She is an expert geologic diver mostly in Bahamian blues holes, though her experience extends to expeditions in U.S. waters. Diver International named her one of the top 40 divers in the world.
Microbeads are manufactured solid plastic particles of less than one millimeter in their largest dimension. They are most frequently made of polyethylene but can be of other petrochemical plastics such as polypropylene and polystyrene. They are used in exfoliating personal care products, toothpastes, and in biomedical and health-science research.
Lynn Henning is a farmer and environmentalist from Michigan, United States. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2010 for her focus on water quality and for fighting pollution from concentrated animal feeding facilities. She exposed the polluting practices of livestock factory farms in rural Michigan, gaining the attention of the federal EPA and prompting state regulators to issue hundreds of citations for water quality violations. Henning currently works for the Socially Responsible Agricultural Project (SRAP). She also won the Planet Defender Award 2012 for her advocacy and her work.
Caroline Cannon or Aqugaq is an Iñupiaq leader and environmentalist from Point Hope, Alaska. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2012 for her fight for protection of marine ecosystems against pollution from the petroleum industry.
A plastic bag ban or charge is a law that restricts the use of lightweight plastic bags at retail establishments. In the early 21st century, there has been a global trend towards the phase-out of lightweight plastic bags. Single-use plastic shopping bags, commonly made from low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plastic, have traditionally been given for free to customers by stores when purchasing goods: the bags have long been considered a convenient, cheap, and hygienic way of transporting items. Problems associated with plastic bags include use of non-renewable resources, difficulties during disposal, and environmental impacts. Concurrently with the reduction in lightweight plastic bags, shops have introduced reusable shopping bags.
Diane Wilson is an American environmental activist, an anti-war activist, and an author. In 1989, she was a shrimp boat captain in Calhoun County, Texas, and she saw an Associated Press article saying that the county had the most toxic waste disposal of all counties in America. Texas produces the most amount of chemical waste than any other state in the United States, with the majority of the pollution concentrated on the state's Gulf Coast. Wilson began a campaign against Formosa Plastics, a Taiwanese chemical company then building a PVC facility near her town, with tactics including several hunger strikes and sinking her own boat to draw attention to the matter. In 1994 she won "zero discharge" agreements from Formosa and Alcoa.
Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are categorized by size into micro-, meso-, or macro debris. Plastics are inexpensive and durable, making them very adaptable for different uses; as a result, manufacturers choose to use plastic over other materials. However, the chemical structure of most plastics renders them resistant to many natural processes of degradation and as a result they are slow to degrade. Together, these two factors allow large volumes of plastic to enter the environment as mismanaged waste which persists in the ecosystem and travels throughout food webs.
Dame Doris Sands Johnson was a Bahamian teacher, suffragette, and politician. She was the first Bahamian woman to contest an election in the Bahamas, the first female Senate appointee, and the first woman granted a leadership role in the Senate. Once in the legislature, she was the first woman to be made a government minister and then was elected as the first woman President of the Senate. She was the first woman to serve as Acting Governor General of the Bahamas, and was honored as Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.
The Bahamas Plastic Movement is a nonprofit organization based out of Eleuthera in the Bahamas that focuses on reducing plastic pollution. The organization was founded in 2013 by Kristal Ambrose. The organization specializes in using youth to end plastic pollution. They are an active member of the Plastic Pollution Coalition.
Zuzana Čaputová is a Slovak politician, lawyer and environmental activist who served as the fifth president of Slovakia from 2019 to 2024. Čaputová was the first woman to hold the presidency, as well as the youngest president in the history of Slovakia, elected at the age of 45.
Sharon Lavigne is an American environmental justice activist in Louisiana focused on combating petrochemical complexes in Cancer Alley. She is the 2022 recipient of the Laetare Medal, the highest honor for American Catholics, and a 2021 recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize.
Bahamian nationality law is regulated by the 1973 Constitution of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, as amended; The Bahamas Nationality Act; The Bahamas Immigration Act; and various British Nationality laws. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of The Bahamas. Bahamian nationality is typically obtained either on the principle of jus soli, i.e. by birth in The Bahamas; or under the rules of jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth abroad to a father with Bahamian nationality. It can also be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalisation. There is currently no program in The Bahamas for citizenship by investment. Nationality establishes one's international identity as a member of a sovereign nation. Though it is not synonymous with citizenship, rights granted under domestic law for domestic purposes, the United Kingdom, and thus the commonwealth, has traditionally used the words interchangeably.
Destiny Watford is an American environmental activist. She won a Goldman Environmental Prize in 2016.
Gloria Majiga–Kamoto is a Malawian community development officer and environmental activist, who was awarded the 2021 Goldman Environmental Prize for Africa, in recognition of her work in advocating for the enforcement of a national ban on the importation, manufacture and distribution of single-use plastics in Malawi, in 2019.
Kimiko Hirata is a Japanese climate activist. As a founder of the Kiko Network, a non-governmental organization, she has campaigned for emissions reductions for more than 20 years. As of December 2022, her grassroots work has led to the cancellation of 17 planned coal-power plants. Hirata also led landmark coal divestment campaigns against Mizuho Financial Group and Mitsubishi UFJ. She currently serves as executive director for the Tokyo-based think tank, Climate Integrate, which focuses on accelerating decarbonization.