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Supermodel named newest Goodwill Ambassador for UN environment agency

Supermodel named newest Goodwill Ambassador for UN environment agency

Gisele Bündchen with Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director
One of the world's most recognizable faces will lend her good looks to the cause of global environmental action, with supermodel Gisele Bündchen of Brazil being designated a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today.

In her new role, Ms. Bündchen will help the agency raise awareness and inspire action to protect the environment, taking on some of the biggest threats facing the planet, such as climate change and environmental degradation.

“The environment has always been my passion,” said the supermodel, who grew up in a small town in Brazil surrounded by nature.

“I couldn't have asked for a better childhood,” she added. “We must act now, so future generations have the same opportunity. Mother Earth is our fundamental life-support system, and by becoming aware and responsible now, we can assist in preserving the planet.”

Her personal initiatives as Goodwill Ambassador will include the Agua Limpa, or “clean water,” project set up by her family to replant deforested areas of the Amazon, as well as “GiGi and the Green Team,” a web-based cartoon series that features Ms. Bündchen as an environmental heroine, aiming to empower girls to protect the environment.

“I have been working on environmental issues for a long time and agreed to become a Goodwill Ambassador to be part of a global and far-reaching organization,” she said. “Now it's about action on a global scale to secure a healthy future for the next generation, wherever they live in the world.”

UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said that Ms. Bündchen, a “committed” environmentalist, is one of the few individuals who has a truly global reach.

The agency “is delighted to welcome her on board as a Goodwill Ambassador so that with her help, we can make environmental action a global brand and a life-style choice, from New York to Nairobi and from Sao Paolo to Shanghai,” he said.