A young Colombian who risked her life to mobilise her community against fracking projects, ultimately preventing the introduction of commercial fracking in the country is one of the six recipients of the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize.
Yuvelis Natalia Morales Blanco, 24, helped halt fracking along the Magdalena river, Colombia’s largest river and one of the most biodiverse places on Earth. She faced death threats and exile for her advocacy — Yuvelis received her first death threat at 19.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a method used to extract natural gas and oil from deep rock formations known as shale by injecting water, sand, and a mix of chemicals into horizontally drilled wells, causing the shale to crack and release natural gas or oil.
In 2019, the Colombian government approved fracking pilot projects in her hometown, Puerto Wilches backed by Ecopetrol and ExxonMobil. Yuvelis co-founded AguaWil, a youth movement that said: No to fracking. Yes to the river.
In 2022, at the age of 21 after receiving many threats to her life, Yuvelis was forced to flee her home and her country. But even from exile in France, she kept speaking — she addressed the Colombian Congress and met President Macron. In December 2022, she came back to Colombia.
Yuvelis is the public face of the country’s youth-led fight against fracking. She also serves as a Judge at the International Rights of Nature Tribunal.
This year, six extraordinary women from around the world were awarded the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize. Often referred to as the ‘Green Nobel’, the Goldman Environmental Prize is conferred every year to outstanding environmental advocates from each of the world’s six geographic regions. In a historic first, all six winners are women.
“Honoring ordinary people who take extraordinary actions to protect our planet” was the tagline used to announce the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize Winners.
The recipients are Iroro Tanshi (Nigeria), Borim Kim (South Korea), Sarah Finch (United Kingdom), Theonila Roka Matbob (Papua New Guinea), Alannah Acaq Hurley (United States), and Yuvelis Morales Blanco (Colombia).
South Korean activist Borim Kim and her organisation, Youth 4 Climate Action set in motion the first successful youth-led national climate change lawsuit outside of Europe. In August 2024, the South Korean Constitutional Court found the government’s climate policy to violate the constitutional rights of future generations. The court mandated the creation of legally binding emissions reduction targets from 2031-2049 to meet the country’s pledge to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
For over a decade, Sarah Finch and the Weald Action Group led a tireless campaign against oil drilling in southeastern England. They persevered through five years of escalating court battles against oil development in Surrey until the coalition secured a Supreme Court ruling in June 2024 that finally forced its shutdown.
Alannah Acaq Hurley, a Yup’ik leader from Bristol Bay, Alaska, led a campaign on behalf of 15 tribal nations to stop the proposed Pebble Mine gold and copper project. The EPA vetoed the mine in 2023, protecting the Bristol Bay watershed from what would have been North America’s largest open pit mine.
Scientist Iroro Tanshi from Nigeria rediscovered the endangered short-tailed roundleaf bat in the country. She then identified that human-induced wildfires pose the primary threat to the survival of the species and launched a community-led fire brigade that has since defended the bats’ habitat from more than 70 fire outbreaks.
Theonila Roka Matbob from Papua New Guinea led a campaign demanding that mining giant Rio Tinto address the long-term environmental and social damage wrought by its massive Panguna gold and copper mine. The campaign culminated in a 2024 agreement with the company to remediate the mine some 35 years after it was shuttered.
Each year, the Goldman Environmental Prize is awarded to grassroots environmental champions from around the world.