Zhou Qiang and the All- China Youth Federation received on Tuesday the prestigious Champion of the Earth Award for "setting an example for the world to follow."

Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the UN Environment Program (UNEP), presented the award to Zhou, honorary chairman of the All- China Youth Federation, and six other winners at the UN headquarters in New York.

Toepfer said at the ceremony that UNEP is honored to recognize the achievements of the seven people who have set the environmental agenda and laid the foundations for many areas of progress "we are able to see and celebrate."

He stressed that the seven winners "not only make speeches, but do something."

According to UNEP, the prize goes to Zhou in recognition of his "outstanding achievements" as leader of the China Mother River Protection Operation, which mobilized 300 million Chinese youth to protect the environment.

Each laureate received a trophy made of recycled metal. The trophy, designed by a Kenyan sculptor, represents the fundamental elements for life on Earth -- sun, air, land and water.

In a speech to the ceremony, Zhou said the All-China Youth Federation has all along endeavored to the undertaking of eco- environmental protection.

"The contribution made by young people in China is inseparable from the great importance attached to eco-environmental protection by the Chinese government and the scientific decisions made by it, " he said.

To build a better-off society in an all-round way, the Chinese government has developed and carried out a concept of scientific development, making strenuous efforts to achieve sustainable development and harmony between man and nature, Zhou said.

The Champions of the Earth awards, which were launched in 2004, are presented each year by UNEP to individuals or groups who have made significant and recognized contribution to the protection and sustainable management of the Earth's environment and natural resources.

The six other 2004 Champions of the Earth Awards are the King and people of Bhutan, President Thabo Mbeki and the people of South Africa, His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, former Mexican environment minister Julia Carabias Lillo, President of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference Sheila Watt-Cloutier of Canada, and Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates.

Source: Xinhua