Deadline: April 5, 2022.

This year’s Equator Prize will recognize innovative initiatives from Indigenous peoples and local communities that demonstrate exceptional achievements in nature-based solutions for local sustainable development. Winning initiatives will be honored for their successes in protecting, restoring, and/or sustainably managing nature for positive development outcomes. 

THEMATIC AREAS

Thematic priorities include:

• Creating a planetary safety net. Protection, restoration, and/or sustainable management of ecosystems to help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and/or support communities in adapting to the impacts of climate change. This includes actions to:
  • Protect and restore nature in order to safeguard water, food, carbon, livelihoods, and biodiversity
  • Safeguard Indigenous peoples’ rights to their lands, territories, and resources, including through the use of cutting-edge technology 
• Redefining Our Relationship with Nature: Redefine our relationship with nature by putting nature at the heart of local development plans and policies, and by defending the rights of land and water defenders. This includes actions to:
  • Integrate Indigenous peoples and local communities’ concepts, traditional knowledge, vision, and value of nature into local and/or national development plans and policies
  • Defend land and water defenders, advocate for land and water rights, and promote social and environmental justice
• Creating a new green economy for people and planet. Protection, restoration and/or sustainable management of terrestrial or marine ecosystems, biodiversity, and/or wildlife that enables sustainable livelihoods, green enterprises, and jobs, including the promotion of Indigenous economies. This includes actions to:
  • Accelerate regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, and sustainable fisheries
  • Ensure Indigenous peoples and local communities and their micro-, small-, and medium- green enterprises (MSMEs) at the heart of fair and inclusive sustainable supply chains
  • Develop sustainable commodity production and promote deforestation-free commodities
  • Support and strengthen Indigenous economies

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible for the Equator Prize 2022:

• The initiative must have been in existence for at least three years, and/or the actions taken must have been in place for at least three years.
• The nominee must be either a local community-based initiative, operating in a rural area, based in a country receiving support from the United Nations Development Programme (for a list of eligible countries, please click here); or an initiative led by Indigenous peoples in any country, operating in a rural area.
• The actions taken by the nominee must be nature-based, and must deliver benefits related to two or more Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

NOMINATION

Nominations may be submitted through our online nomination system.

OFFICIAL LINK