April 22 marks the 38th celebration of Earth Day. In honor of the day, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) is presenting its Champions of Earth award. In 2004, the UNEP established the international environment award to celebrate the contributions of "individuals from every region of the world that have shown extraordinary leadership on environmental issues."

The UNEP is recognizing Dr. Balgis Osman-Elasha, a leading climate change researcher from Sudan. Dr. Balgis Osman-Elasha is considered to be at the forefront of climate change research and is a leading author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Dr. Osman-Elasha is seen by many as a role model for African women. She uses her knowledge and leadership skills to advance understanding of climate change and educate university students in Sudan about the impact and implications of climate change. She is changing the world, and starting at home.

Photo: unity.project

The New York Times is producing a fascinating series of articles and multimedia examining the human toll, global impact and political challenge of China's epic pollution crisis.

December's United Nations climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia could have ended in a logjam of indecision until Kevin Conrad, spokesperson for Papua New Guinea, took the floor challenging the United States to take the lead or get out of the way. In a recent interview, Conrad explains why the success of this agreement is vital to smaller countries like Papua New Guinea:

“I think collectively we as humanity have become more mature in this climate battle, and we understand collectively that we’ve got to turn off all the emissions sources in order to win,” he said. “The climate doesn’t know whether it came from a factory or from Papua New Guinea’s deforestation. We’ve really got to get all hands on deck and tackle all of the issues.”

Mr. Conrad said the potential breakdown in the session’s final hours was particularly vexing to him because New Guinea and other forested tropical countries were finally getting attention for a proposal of payments by rich countries for preserving tropical forests. Deforestation currently contributes about a fifth of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide.

He said the rich-poor divide in the talks, which crystallized in the final clash in Bali, is a distraction from the reality that all countries have agreed, by the end of 2009, to do something new: define a threshold for greenhouse gases beyond which the world will not go.

Mr. Conrad's willingness to stand up for his cause will hopefully have positive results in furthering global cooperation on vital climate change issues, but in the very least, his willingness to speak out has brought greater heed to his country’s situation.