Ian Kiernan
historyIan Bruce Carrick Kiernan AO (born 1940) is an environmentalist who organised the Clean Up Australia campaign, and in 1993 a similar Clean Up the World operation which attracted participation from 30 million volunteers in 80 countries. He received the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in 1994 and the UNEP SASAKAWA Environment Prize in 1998. He received the World Citizenship Award from the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in 1999.
Kiernan was born 4 October 1940, in Sydney to George Arthur and Leslie Katherine Kiernan. He was educated at The Scots College in Sydney, The Armidale School in northern New South Wales, and the Sydney Technical College, where he trained as a builder.
Throughout his life, Ian has also been a passionate yachtsman, sailing competitively for more than 40 years and representing Australia at the Admiral's, Southern Cross, Dunhill, Clipper, Kenwood and Trans Pacific Cup competitions.
In 1986/87 Ian fulfilled a long-held dream by representing Australia in the BOC Challenge solo around-the-world yacht race. He finished 6th out of a fleet of 25 yachts from 11 nations, setting an Australian record for a solo circumnavigation of the world.
It was during the BOC Challenge that Ian saw and was appalled by the amount of rubbish choking the world's oceans. He committed himself to do something about it on his return, starting in his own backyard - Sydney Harbour.
With the support of a committee of friends, he organised a community event - Clean Up Sydney Harbour on Sunday 8 January 1989. They were overwhelmed by the response from Sydney residents, with 40,000 volunteers turning out to lend a hand to clean up.
The huge success of the first Clean Up event in 1989 sparked national interest in the simple but effective community-based idea.
In 1990, the first Clean Up Australia Day took place on Sunday, 21 January. Again, the response of Australians was astounding. More than 300,000 Australians volunteered their time to help make a difference to the health of their local environment.
Since then more than 7 million people have heeded the call through annual Clean Up Australia Days, Friday Schools Clean Up Days and Business Clean Ups.»Ian Kirnans Story
Clean up Australia's Mission is "To inspire and work with communities to clean up, fix up and conserve our environment."»Clean Up Australia The Organisation
Soon enough, Ian was meeting with the United Nations Environment Plan (UNEP) in order to discuss a global Clean Up. Finally, the agreed on a Clean Up the World event to take place in 1993. Over three days (17-19 September), over 30 000 000 people from 80 nations turned out in order to Clean Up their world. From there, the notion has snowballed, with currently 40 M people from 120 countries taking part in the annual Clean Up the World.
Ian Kiernan's environmental efforts were originally recognised in 1991 when the Australian Government awarded him the Order of Australia Medal (OAM).
In October 1991, he was named "Communicator of the Year" by the Public Relations Institute of Australia and was the recipient of an Advanced Australia Award the same year.
On 5 June 1993, Ian Kiernan was made a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Global 500 Laureate for his work and leadership in the local and global environment
In recognition of his leadership within the community, both in Australia and internationally, Ian Kiernan was named 1994 Australian of the Year.»http://www.australianoftheyear.org.au/pages/page71.asp
In 1998 he was the recipient of the UNEP Sasakawa Prize. The prize is awarded every year to individuals with an established track record of achievement and the potential to make outstanding contributions to the protection and management of the environment consistent with UNEP's policies and objectives.»Mr. Ian Bruce Carrick Kiernan, Winner 1998 .
The 2007 Reader's Digest Most Trusted Poll voted Clean Up Australia as the country's most trusted environmental charity and Chairman Ian Kiernan AO as the fourth "most trustworthy" Australian.»CLEAN UP AUSTRALIA MOST TRUSTED AUSTRALIAN ENVIRONMENT CHARITY
In 2008 the same poll Ian was ranked number 3»Australia's Most Trusted People 2008
He is also the recipient of Toastmaster's International Communications and Leadership Award, The Berger-Sullivan Tourism Award, the International Banksia Award, and the 1999 Building World Citizenship Award.
- »UNEP SASAKAWA Environment Prize laureates 1998.
- »World Citizenship Award Awardees
- Ian Kiernan's story »http://www.cleanup.org.au/au/About/ian-kiernan--s-story.html