The MIDORI Prize recognizes outstanding individual contributions to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity

The unique prize contributes to raising public awareness of the essential role biodiversity plays for human well-being and in addressing global challenges such as climate change

The Award Ceremony and Award Winners Forum will be held on 27 August 2026 in Tokyo, Japan

The call for nominations for The MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity 2026 is open from 2 February to 31 March 2026. Nominations are invited from members of the public through the AEON Environmental Foundation website at https://www.aeonkankyozaidan.or.jp/en/prize/. The Award Ceremony and Award Winners Forum of the 2026 edition of the Prize will be held on 27 August in Tokyo, Japan. These events will contribute to the global mobilization around COP 17 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which will take place in Yerevan (Armenia) under the theme of “Taking action for Nature”.

Co-organized by the AEON Environmental Foundation and the Secretariat of the CBD, the Prize is awarded to individuals who make outstanding contributions to global biodiversity-related objectives, including the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and other environmental challenges such as climate change. To date, 21 individuals from 20 countries have received the prize.

Established by the AEON Environmental Foundation during the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity, the Prize has been awarded to biodiversity champions in several fields, including Implementation, Science & Research and Policy & Enlightenment, reflecting the need for a whole-of-society approach to the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). Adopted at the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the CBD in 2022, the KMGBF is the world’s blueprint to halt and reverse biodiversity loss through 23 action targets that must be achieved by 2030.

Details

Period for nomination: 2 February to 31 March 2026

Eligibility: All individuals contributing to conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the categories of Implementation, Science & Research, and Policy & Enlightenment

Organizer: AEON Environmental Foundation and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD)

No. of prizewinners: Two

Prize money: 100,000 US dollars each

Award ceremony: 27 August 2026 in Tokyo, Japan

Application method: See the AEON Environmental Foundation website at https://www.aeonkankyozaidan.or.jp/en/prize/

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