| Chibeze Ezekiel | |
| Occupation: |
|
| Notable Works: |
|
| Awards: |
|
Chibeze Ezekiel (born) is a Ghanaian environmental activist and a 2020 Goldman Environmental Prize award recipient for Africa.[1] [2] [3] [4] He is known to have challenged the Ghanaian Ministry of Environment to cancel the construction of a coal plant through activism.[5] [6]
He is the founder of Strategic Youth Network for Development,[7] [8] a youth-centered organization for environmental and social change in Ghana. He was also the National Coordinator of 350 Ghana Reducing Our Carbon (350 GROC)[9] 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.[10]
The government of Ghana 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 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 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.[11] [12]
In 2022, he was a possible contender according to experts as an environmental activist for Nobel Peace Prize.[13]
He started as a certified youth trainer on climate change in 2009, and 10 years pass after all his works became a Winner of the Goldman Prize 2020 [1]