This article first appeared in the The Guardian on 14 October. Tickets for the November events in Sydney are available via http://tix.yt/midnight-oil-gold-medal Australian band Midnight Oil will be awarded the gold medal for human rights by the Sydney Peace Foundation for its “commitment
In 2017, the Black Lives Matter Global Network received the Sydney Peace Prize for building a powerful movement for racial equality and courageously reigniting a global conversation. We recently caught up with Rodney Diverlus who accepted the Prize in 2017
We were so honoured to award the Gold Medal for Human Rights to Christiana Figueres on 12 March in the Lord Mayor's Reception Room at the Sydney Town Hall. Christiana gave an impassioned speech about the need for urgent action
What a difference four years make. December 12, 2019: Scott Morrison was having a so-so day. He had faced international criticism of the Government’s response to climate change. Bushfires were raging up and down the coast of NSW, and Sydney had
During her time in Australia to accept the 2019 Sydney Peace Prize on behalf of the Me Too movement, Tarana Burke spoke with Vogue Australia's Clare Press about the origins of Me Too, the viral hashtag, and how work to
The leader of the Paris Climate Agreement talks says she is "deeply pained" by the attitude of the Australian Government to climate change in the wake of this summer's unprecedented bushfires. Costa Rican diplomat Christiana Figueres became the United Nations' top
Advocates of the Green New Deal say there is great urgency in dealing with the climate crisis and highlight the scale and scope of what is required to combat it. They are right. They use the term “New Deal” to
Christiana Figueres once credited the Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh with helping her shepherd 192 countries from blaming to collaborating, from paralysis to empowerment in the Paris Agreement. Now Figueres and her strategic advisor, former Buddhist monk Tom Rivett-Carnac, have penned a book
The effects of climate change represent the single biggest threat to peace with justice. The Sydney Peace Foundation has chosen to honor the leadership of Christiana Figueres with the presentation of the 2020 Gold Medal for Human Rights because of her
Peace is much more than the absence of violence. Peace requires the presence of justice, institutions and structures preventing violence. ‘The risks associated with climate-related disasters do not represent a scenario of some distant future. They are already a reality for