Yuvelis Morales Blanco wins Goldman Prize for halting fracking in Colombia

Yuvelis Morales Blanco won the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize for her work in stopping fracking projects near the Magdalena River in Colombia.

The 24 year old activist began her campaign by visiting neighbors in her hometown of Puerto Wilches to explain the risks of hydraulic fracturing. She joined the Alianza Colombia Libre de Fracking to lead protests and testify at permit hearings against the Kalé and Platero pilot projects led by Ecopetrol and ExxonMobil.

Morales Blanco faced threats from armed men at her home in early 2022 and fled to France, where she received asylum. From abroad, she continued her advocacy by raising the issue with French President Emmanuel Macron and seeking legal support. Her efforts contributed to a court suspension of environmental permits in April 2022, which eventually led Ecopetrol to cancel the project contracts and undo its agreements with ExxonMobil by September 2022.

In August 2024, the Constitutional Court of Colombia ruled that the fracking projects violated the rights of Afro Colombian communities to free and informed consent. This ruling established a legal precedent that gives local communities a voice over industrial projects on their territory. Morales Blanco has since returned to Puerto Wilches to continue her work with the alliance.