Surpiya Sahu wins UNEP award

Supriya Sahu, additional chief secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forests, has won the UN Environment Programme’s 2025 Champions of the Earth award. She is one of the climate forerunner tackling some of the most urgent challenges.

According to UNEP, Ms. Sahu has been chosen for her inspiration and action. During her time as secretary for the past four years, she has positioned Tamil Nadu as a global leader in climate mitigation, adaptation and heat resilience. Her initiatives have showcased how integrated governance and nature-based solutions, along with a mix of low- and high-tech interventions, can protect vulnerable communities, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the UNEP said.

In her acceptance speech, Ms. Sahu said, as a government officer, she understood that the government had a crucial role in tackling climate change, but real change began when people lead. Climate action had to be a peoples’ movement.

She thanked the Chief Minister for his leadership on climate action and giving her the opportunity to serve in the sector. Tamil Nadu, as a State, has always been ahead of its time, she said.