In 2020, the COAL Prize is devoted to the erosion of biodiversity. This eleventh edition is part of the program VIVANT, a cultural Season for Biodiversity carried by COAL and its partners in preparation for the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2020 (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) to be held in Marseille from the 11th to the 19th of June, and in anticipation of the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (China, October 2020). 

The sixth mass extinction that threatens the diversity of life affects both species and ecosystems. In France, at present, 18% of species, or nearly one in five species, are already considered extinct or threatened. The last similar crisis dates to 65 million years ago and sealed the fate of the dinosaurs. Unlike the previous five, this sixth extinction of the living is due to the impact of human activity. Five major causes have been identified: the changed use of natural areas, overexploitation of species, pollution, climate change and invasive alien species. A response from governments, the private sector, representatives of civil society and citizens is urgently needed to cease the decline of life’s diversity. 

Stop the global crisis of plastic pollution, reduce the impact of human activities at sea and on land, adapt to climate change, fight against deforestation, protect rivers, marshes, grasslands and coastal mangroves, strenghten the protection measures for great apes, marine mammals and counter the organized trafficking of wild species. The heterogeneity and interweaving of biodiversity protection issues requires a wide range of actions – regulation, prevention, adaptation and implementation of nature-based solutions. Transformative changes in our societies are needed to restore and preserve nature.

By facing a situation as complex as it is urgent, the 2020 COAL Prize invites artists from all over the world to rally in order to report on a world that is still alive, to feel and experience biodiversity, but mostly to act and get involved with nature protection actors. 

Presented and awarded at the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2020 in Marseille in June 2020, the COAL Prize will contribute to the decisive step towards accelerating French and international public policies and raising citizens’ awareness of the need to preserve the environment and its biodiversity. 

The COAL Prize is supported by the Ministry of Ecology, the Ministry of Culture, the European Union through the ACT network, the French Agency for Biodiversity, the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature and the François Sommer Foundation and is in partnership with the IUCN French Committee, the Natural Reserves of France, the Federation of Regional Natural Parks of France, the WWF, the French Southern Region, the city of Marseille and the Parc national des Calanques and all the partners of VIVANT.

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