The woman who established a pioneering sustainability training centre in Findhorn has been named as a world-leading campaigner for the second successive year.
May East, who is chief executive of CIFAL Scotland, has been named in a list of the world’s 100 global sustainability leaders by climate change experts ABC Carbon and Sustain Ability Showcase Asia.
She joins a prestigious list of academics, writers, business leaders and politicians, including US Energy Secretary Steven Chu as well as the Oscar winning actress and environmental activist, Cate Blanchett.
Originally from Brazil, May has worked in the United Nations Institute for Training and Research system for almost 20 years. She moved to Scotland in the early 1990s and was instrumental in setting up CIFAL Findhorn in 2006, the only centre of its kind in Northern Europe.
Originally based in the Findhorn Ecovillage, the agency was renamed CIFAL Scotland earlier this year and now has offices in Forres and Edinburgh, where it teamed up with seven other agencies working to promote the work of the UN in Scotland to open a new shared centre, UN House Scotland.
May said: “It is an enormous privilege to be leading CIFAL Scotland at such an exciting time in its relatively short history. We have achieved a great deal over the past six years in terms of advancing the green growth agenda through training, events and conferences.
"Scotland’s world leading climate change legislation shows that change can come about and there is no doubt that many more businesses, public sector agencies and Government bodies now have a greater understanding of the role they can play in supporting these goals.
"This award is a reflection not of my work but of the many stakeholders who are supporting the transition towards a low carbon future with equal opportunities for all."
Scotland’s Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Paul Wheelhouse, added: “I would like to offer my personal congratulations to May East.
"This award is well-deserved recognition of her dedication to promoting sustainability issues worldwide and reflects the important contribution that CIFAL Scotland’s training and research programme is making towards putting Scotland at the forefront of the global low carbon economy."
CIFAL Scotland’s latest campaign, 'Creating Green Jobs for Youth', will be the subject of a one-day conference in Moray next month.
Since the beginning of the global financial crisis in 2008, youth unemployment has soared in both affluent and poor countries with nearly 76 million between the ages of 15 and 24-years-old unemployed.
The conference in Moray is a joint initiative between CIFAL Scotland and various groups including the University of the Highlands and Islands, Moray Chamber of Commerce, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Moray Council and the Scottish Government.
Participants will discuss ways to ensure youth involvement in the transition to green economies and the incentives, investments and policies required for the creation of green jobs for youth.
The conference takes place on November 15 at Horizon Scotland, Forres, from 9.30am until 3.30pm. For more information or to book your place visit CIFAL Scotland or call 01309 678 130.