Robert Swan, O.B.E.

Robert Swan is the world’s first person to walk to both the North and South Poles. He earned his place alongside the greatest explorers in history by accomplishing this feat by age 33. His 900-mile journey to the South Pole, ‘In the Footsteps of Scott,’ stands as the longest unassisted walk ever made on Earth. During Swan's Antarctic expeditions, his team survived near-death encounters as the oceanic ice melted prematurely due to global warming. His eyes also permanently changed color due to prolonged UV exposure under the hole in the ozone layer. These experiences helped shape Swan's life goal: to ensure the preservation of Antarctica, the Earth’s last great wilderness. He founded 2041, an organization dedicated to this goal. Key initiatives include partnership since the early 1990s with the United Nations World Summit for Sustainable Development, and a wide range of global and local environmental missions which have inspired youth around the world to become sustainable leaders and promote the use of renewable energy.