Renowned Nigerian environmentalist Nnimmo Bassey has been honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the prestigious Courageous Scientists Awards in Vienna, Austria, marking another global recognition for his decades-long crusade against ecological destruction in the Niger Delta.
Organisers confirmed in a statement on Tuesday that Bassey was recognised for his relentless fight against the severe environmental and human rights fallout of crude oil extraction. He stood alongside five other international laureates at a gala night hosted at the Porgy & Bess Jazz Club in Vienna.
Founded by Austrian architectural historian Norbert Mayr, the award shines a spotlight on researchers and activists risking their safety to halt environmental collapse. Alongside global recognition, each winner received €5,000 to support their work.
A Call for Justice and Community Restoration
Reflecting on the honor, Bassey highlighted the vital link between grassroots movements and rigorous research in turning the tide against polluters.
“Environmental protection requires communities to work together using scientific evidence and lived experiences to confront systemic challenges,” Bassey said, emphasizing that the award reinforces the need for ethical, community-centered science.
He pressed for direct accountability from multinational firms and governments responsible for damaging fragile ecosystems, insisting that affected regions deserve complete remediation.
“Affected communities deserve environmental remediation and restoration following damage caused by colonial extraction and ecocide,” he declared, calling for strict respect for local community rights.
A Global Circle of Environmental Courage
Bassey, who previously earned the 2010 Right Livelihood Award, shared the stage with a distinguished group of global defenders whose work bridges scientific research with indigenous knowledge.
The 2026 honorees include post-humous laureate Berta Cáceres, the Honduran activist assassinated in 2016 for opposing the Agua Zarca dam; Ana Laide Soares Barbosa, a Brazilian campaigner fighting Amazonian destruction; and Akino Miyagi, a Japanese butterfly researcher confronting the ecological footprint of US military bases in Okinawa.
Rounding out the list are Malik Oedin, a New Caledonian bat researcher defending local biodiversity, and Seble Samuel, an Ethiopian climate campaigner championing urban ecological initiatives.
Jury member and former head of Austria’s national meteorological service, Michael Staudinger, noted that the laureates prove how sustained action and strong local and international networks can drive real change. Mayr added that the award serves as a vital shield for those taking bold steps to protect nature amid worsening global climate threats.
Decades on the Frontlines of Eco-Justice
Bassey’s career spans over three decades at the forefront of African and global environmental policy. He currently serves as the director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) and sits on the steering committee of Oilwatch International.
He co-founded Oilwatch Africa in 1995, led Nigeria’s Environmental Rights Action (ERA) from 1993 to 2013, and chaired Friends of the Earth International between 2008 and 2012. His contributions previously earned him the 2012 Rafto Human Rights Award and Nigeria’s national honor of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) in 2014.
An accomplished author, Bassey has written extensively on corporate extraction in Africa, including acclaimed works such as To Cook a Continent: Destructive Extraction and the Climate Crisis in Africa and Oil Politics: Echoes of Ecological War.
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