Chennai: Tamil Nadu’s Additional Chief Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forests, Supriya Sahu, has been awarded the 2025 Champions of the Earth award by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN’s highest environmental honour. The award recognises individuals whose actions have a transformative impact on the environment.
Ms Sahu was lauded for her pioneering leadership on critical environmental challenges in India, including plastic reduction, wildlife conservation, and sustainable cooling technologies. The UN release highlighted her recent work on sustainable cooling as a model solution for a warming world.
Climate and Community Impact
Her work combines governance, nature-based solutions, and technology to protect vulnerable communities while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These efforts have created millions of green jobs and strengthened climate resilience for 12 million people.
Career and Environmental Leadership
Born on 27 July 1968 in Uttar Pradesh, Supriya Sahu is a 1991-batch IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre. With a postgraduate degree in Botany from Lucknow University, she has over 30 years of public service, spanning health, socio-economic development, and environmental protection.
As Additional Chief Secretary for Environment, she has spearheaded several transformative initiatives –
- Operation Blue Mountain: A campaign against plastic in the Nilgiris, including a Guinness World Record for tree planting in a single day.
- Meendum Manjapai: Encouraging the adoption of cloth bags to reduce single-use plastic consumption.
- Tamil Nadu Green Climate Company: Driving climate action through tree plantations, mangrove restoration, and new Reserve Forest creation, resulting in over 108 million trees planted and 3,610 hectares of mangroves restored.
Doubled mangrove cover and expanded wetlands from 1 to 20.
Launched a US$60 million Endangered Species Conservation Fund.
IAS Sahu has also overseen the notification of over 7,000 hectares of new Reserve Forests, the establishment of seven new wildlife sanctuaries, and 19 additional Ramsar sites. She has created over 2.5 million green jobs and implemented the One Health approach linking environmental, animal, and human health.
Transforming the State and Community
Under IAS Sahu’s leadership, Tamil Nadu has promoted community-based conservation, including Village Mangrove Councils and eco-tourism opportunities for tribal youth. She has advanced climate-smart village initiatives, solar energy adoption, wastewater treatment, and women’s climate mentorship programs.
Her efforts extend beyond environmental work:
INDCOSERVE (Tea Cooperative): Improved incomes for 30,000 small tea growers, introduced organic certification, and launched initiatives like Tea Vandis and INDCO Tea House to market local produce.
Doordarshan (DG 2016–17): Boosted revenue to ₹827.51 crore, launched DD Science and India Science channels, and expanded community radio engagement.
Health Initiatives: Strengthened Tamil Nadu’s HIV/AIDS and TB programs and improved inclusion for marginalised communities.
International Recognition
The Champions of the Earth award, initiated in 2005, honours individuals, organisations, and governments driving transformative environmental change. Sahu joins a distinguished list of global leaders recognised for addressing climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.
UNEP described her work as a scalable model for sustainable development, particularly in the context of a warming planet.
Legacy and Impact
Supriya Sahu’s career reflects a unique blend of administrative skill, environmental advocacy, and social innovation. From record-breaking tree plantations to climate-smart policies, her efforts have placed Tamil Nadu at the forefront of ecological restoration and climate resilience.
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