NAIROBI, 29 October 1998 -- The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced today that the 1998 UNEP Sasakawa Environment Prize has been awarded to Mr. Ian Kiernan, an Australian environmentalist and founder of the Clean Up the World Campaign. The Prize, worth US$200,000, is considered one of the most prestigious environmental awards in the world.

Mr. Kiernan will be honoured for mobilizing millions of people around the globe to take responsibility for their own environment. He will receive the Prize at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 16 November.

"The Prize has been awarded to Mr. Kiernan for communicating in the most visible way and to the world at large, the need to protect the environment. In a sense, Ian Kiernan's success is a fairy tale come true", said Lord Stanley Clinton-Davis, Acting Chairman of the Selection Committee. "Who would have thought that in the six short years since he launched Clean Up the World that he would have captured the imagination of so many, and single-handedly done so much to arrest environmental degradation."

Ian Kiernan's story goes back to 1987 when he embarked on a solo journey by sail around the world. Appalled by the inordinate amount of garbage floating in the world's oceans, he vowed to himself that upon his return to his native Australia that he would do something to help remedy these careless acts of man. His vision gave birth to a world wide movement which today brings together, every September, more than 40 million people from 120 countries in a worldwide clean-up effort.

"As the force behind Clean Up the World, Mr. Kiernan has clearly demonstrated that ordinary people - men, women and children alike - have it in their hands to contribute substantially to a better quality of life for themselves and their communities", said UNEP's Executive Director Klaus Toepfer. "Clean Up the World is a remarkable achievement in which significant contributions have been made to the health of our planet by communities working together - simple yet effective."

The Campaign has had wide-ranging results, not only in terms of public participation, increased awareness, and the removal and disposal of rubbish, but in helping to bring about long-term change and improvement to waste management practices and policies.

Due to his increasing commitment to Clean Up the World, Ian Kiernan has closed his building business and now works full-time as Chairman of Clean Up the World.

"The results of the Campaign, in terms of direct improvement to the living standards and behaviour of participating communities are immeasurable. It is a concrete example of how environmental issues are best handled with the support of and by the people", adds Mr. Toepfer.

Note to Editors

. A complete biography and photograph of Mr. Kiernan are available.

. The UNEP Sasakawa Environment Prize, founded by Mr. Ryoichi Sasakawa, has been awarded annually since 1984 to individuals who have made outstanding global contributions to the management and protection of the environment.

. Past winners include Chico Mendes, the rubber tapper from Brazil who died leading the fight against the cattle ranchers' destruction of the rainforest; Lester Brown, Director of the World Watch Institute, whose writings were instrumental in alerting the world about the threats to the biosphere; and Dr. M. S. Swaminathan of India, the father of the economic ecology movement.

. Selection process: The 1998 Prize winner was selected by an independent and distinguished panel of international leaders and environmentalists on 7 September 1998. The panel includes; Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn of Thailand; Lord Stanley Clinton-Davis of the United Kingdom; Dr. Russell Peterson, President Emeritus of the National Audubon Society of the United States of America; Professor Wangari Maathai, founder and director of the Greenbelt Movement of Kenya; and Dr. Abdulbar Al-Gain, President of the Meteorology and Environmental Protection Administration of Saudi Arabia.

For more information, and to obtain 1999 nomination forms, please contact:

UNEP News Release 1998/112