Chibeze Ezekiel (born ) is a

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

environmental activist and a 2020

Goldman Environmental Prize The Goldman Environmental Prize is a prize awarded annually to grassroots environmental activists, one from each of the world's six geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, and South and Central America. ...

award recipient for Africa. He is known to have challenged the Ghanaian Ministry of Environment to cancel the construction of a coal plant through activism.

Life and career

He is the founder of Strategic Youth Network for Development, a youth-centered organization for environmental and social change in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

. He was also the National Coordinator of 350 Ghana Reducing Our Carbon (350 GROC) and he is the chairman of Youth in Natural Resource and Environmental Governance (Youth-NREG). He serves as Panel Member of International Experts on the Environment of Peace 2022 (EP 2022) project.

Activism

The government of

in 2013 proposed the construction of a 700 MW coal power plant and an adjoining port in Aboabo in Ekumfi district. The project was proposed by the

Volta River Authority The Volta River Authority (VRA) is the main generator and supplier of electricity in Ghana. They are also the responsible for the maintenance of the hydro power supply plant. Establishment The VRA was established by the Volta River Development ...

and Shenzhen Energy Group: The project required a $1.5 Billion loan from China African Development Fund and it was going to be the first of a kind in Ghana which has no coal reserves, hence there would be importation of raw material annually from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

estimated to be about 2 million tons. Chibeze led grassroots campaign against the construction of a coal-fired power station in Ghana. He worked with the local communities educating them on the effect and damage the coal-fired power station would result to. He further requested that the government switch to renewable energy. In 2022, he was a possible contender according to experts as an environmental activist for

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...

Awards

He started as a certified youth trainer on

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

in 2009, and 10 years pass after all his works became a Winner of the Goldman Prize 2020

External links

Time with Chibeze,First Ghanaian to join 350.org BoardWe are African BornsChibeze Ezekiel - Goldman Prize RecipientTED talk - A vision for sustainable Energy in AfricaSpeaking up: Ghana's social media voicesCiti TV : Time with Chibeze Ezekiel

References

Goldman Environmental Prize awardees Living people Ghanaian environmentalists Year of birth missing (living people) {{Ghana-bio-stub