Barbadian Senator and former Minister of Energy and Environment Liz Thompson will be among those receiving this award which has been described by the United Nations as the "premier international environmental award".

The award has resulted in a tremendous amount of marketing and publicity for Barbados since the event has been publicised worldwide by the United Nations and promoted in a number of top international publications, including the prestigious Time Magazine which featured the awardees.

In the two months since the announcement was made by UNEP, Thompson has had to take part in a number of media events. UNEP sent a team to Barbados to take footage of the country which will be shown at the gala dinner ceremony at which the award will be presented.

Barbados is expected to get significant publicity from the event since some of the footage will be carried by the international media invited to the event because of the high level recipients of the award. The senator has also had to provide comments for and respond to questions from various media houses which are tracking the event because of winners from their own country.

Thompson is already in Singapore where she is being accompanied by her husband. The gala awards ceremony is one of a number of social activities being hosted for the awardees.

Others include a day trip to Indonesia at the invitation of the government, a global business summit which will be attended by world leaders and businessmen, at which Thompson is scheduled to participate in a round-table discussion with the other awardees and to speak at the gala dinner. A number of cultural events, tours and receptions are also planned.

Prince Albert II of Monaco; former United States Senator Timothy E. Wirth and New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark; Dr Balgis Osman-Elasha, a senior researcher at Sudan's Higher Council for Environment & Natural Resources; Atiq Rahman, the Executive Director of the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies; and Abdul-Qader Ba-Jammal, the Secretary-General of the Yemen People's General Congress are the other awardees. Previous awardees have included former United Staes Vice-President Al Gore and South African President Thabo Mbeki.

The award is given for exceptional work in the area of the environment and Thompson, who was Minister of Environment of Barbados for 11 years, was lauded for the progressive policies she put in place and for her leadership role in the Caribbean.

According to Achim Steiner, UNEP's Executive Director: "Senator Thompson has become one of the recognised leaders on environmental issues of the Small Island Developing States.

"During her time as Minister of Energy and the Environment of Barbados, she enacted a range of progressive policies for sustainable development and environmental protection.

"She also became a key voice to raise awareness of global warming in Barbados – a country where the challenges of climate change and conservation are of particular relevance."

Thompson has also played a role in environmental awareness and protection across the Caribbean. She has encouraged small island states to diversify their economies, undertake sustainability assessments, and promote community-based programmes that have positive environmental impacts.

The celebratory events for the "Champions" are expected to last a week. (PR)