| Daniel Adriatico | Charters/Burggraf |
ustralian surfer Layne Beachley, winner of six consecutive world surfing titles, originally set up her Aim for the Stars Foundation to help girls aged 12 to 18 pursue their athletic goals. However, she was so impressed by the efforts of three passionate young Australian environmentalists that she created the Beachley Environmental Award to honour them in the 2006 round of grants.
In July 2005, grant winners Sarah and Kate Charters and Millicent Burggraf joined the 600 delegates from around the world at UNEP's inaugural Children's World Summit for the Environment, which took place in Aichi prefecture, Japan. Inspired by the Summit, the three returned home and presented the Summit petition - which challenges world leaders to pay greater attention to environmental issues and commits the children to environmentally friendly actions - to Mayor Darren Ray of Port Phillip, their home town, and to Victoria's Minister for Environment and Deputy Premier, John Thwaites. They even persuaded the Mayor to sponsor their idea of making the local shopping centre plastic-bag free.
The girls plan to use the grant to attend the 2006 Children's World Summit for the Environment, to take place in Malaysia, and to continue working on behalf of the environment.
Aim for the Stars UNEP Children's Summit UNEP Tunza PDF Version