Paris, November 30, 2020 – Today, Reclaim Finance is proud to announce that its founder and CEO, Lucie Pinson, is receiving the Goldman Environmental Prize for her work in favor of stopping financing to the coal sector. Created in 1989 by Richard and Rhoda Goldman, the Goldman Prize—often described as the “Nobel Prize for the Environment”—is awarded each year to six environmental activists from six continents. In its 31 years of existence and out of 200 winners, Lucie Pinson is the first to receive it for having led campaigns aimed at financial institutions.

Lucie Pinson is the third French woman, after Christine Jean (1992), Bruno Van Peteghem (2001) and Claire Nouvian (2018), to receive this award. She is being rewarded for having contributed to setting several precedents in terms of stopping coal financing at the international level.

  • As early as 2015, Lucie Pinson helped push the four largest French banks to stop their direct support for new coal mining and power plant projects, before forcing French insurers AXA and SCOR to do the same in 2017.
  • Not satisfied with the measures adopted by these players, Lucie helped convince them, one by one, to change their approach to excluding companies based on their trajectory and their impact on the climate. 29 French financial groups, including investors with more than $7 trillion in assets under management, now have policies on coal. French financial players were the first to adopt global coal exit policies, based mainly on the exclusion of companies that continue developing new coal projects. Thus, French financial actors were the first to adopt global coal exit policies, based on the exclusion of companies that continue to develop new coal projects.
  • At least 43 international banks and insurers have stopped supporting the construction of new coal mining and power plant projects. Financial institutions are now beginning to exclude companies that are planning their development and aim for a total exit from the sector. They are thus breaking with the logic that focuses exclusively on short-term profit.

Lucie Pinson, founder and CEO of Reclaim Finance, says: “I am very honored to receive this award. Together with my colleagues from Friends of the Earth and my international colleagues, we have put all our energy into convincing or forcing French financial players to adopt ambitious measures to put an end to coal. The Goldman Environmental Prize, awarded to individuals, demonstrates that each of us can win the battles necessary to win the climate war, whether we are young or retired, employees or executives, or ordinary citizens. Let us not be trapped by the culture of defeat.”

“These six environmental champions reflect the powerful impact that one person can have on many,” said John Goldman, President of the Goldman Environmental Foundation. “In today’s world, we witness the effects of an imbalance with nature: a global pandemic, climate change, wildfires, environmental injustices affecting those most at risk, and constant threats to a sustainable existence. Even in the face of the unending onslaught and destruction upon our natural world, countless individuals and communities are fighting every day to protect our planet. These are six of those environmental heroes. They deserve the honor and recognition the Prize offers them—for taking a stand, risking their lives and livelihoods, and inspiring us with real, lasting environmental progress.”

In ordinary circumstances, the winners receive the award in person at a ceremony at the San Francisco Opera House in April. This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, an online ceremony will be held tonight, Tuesday, December 1, at 1:00 am. It will be hosted by Sigourney Weaver, accompanied by musical guest Jack Johnson, with exceptional appearances by Robert Redford, Lenny Kravitz, Danni Washington, and other personalities.

Contact : Lucie Pinson, Founder and Executive Director of Reclaim Finance, lucie@reclaimfinance.org, +33 (0)6 79543715

Read the written acceptance statement by Lucie Pinson.

Credit: Stéphane Cojot-Goldberg