Winners

PREPAREDNESS

• Kenya Red Cross Society ​was recognized for its efforts in disaster risk reduction, especially in the context of the Sinai Nairobi industrial accident, oil spill and fire in September 2011.
• Joint award to Professor Nikola Nikolov (Macedonia), Sundar Prasad Sharma (Nepal), and Professor Sergiy Zibtsev (Ukraine), for their leadership and work to strengthen national capacities to respond to the humanitarian and environmental impacts of wildfires.

RESPONSE

• Mayor of Japan’s Katsurao Village, Masahide Matsumoto, who showed exemplary leadership and preparedness on 14 March 2011 to evacuate 1,600 residents to safety the day before the second and third reactor explosions at the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, which, subsequently, covered his town in a thick radioactive plume.
• New York City Hurricane Sandy Debris Removal Task Force, for their outstanding response to the devastation in October 2012. The Task Force comprised of 25 governmental agencies and focused on reusing and recycling much of the 2 million cubic yards of debris left behind in New York City.

MAINSTREAMING

• World Wildlife Fund and American Red Cross, for their joint-development of the Green Recovery and Reconstruction Toolkit (GRRT), following the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, to ensure disaster recovery efforts are sustainable and environmentally-friendly.
• Sir David Attenborough, for his work on raising awareness on climate change and related environmental emergencies, and 60 years of dedication to the environment. His vast body of work, has informed millions of people on the pressures posed by humanity on the environment.