Bangkok, 5 June 2020 – The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today announced Alex Rendell as a National Goodwill Ambassador for Thailand.

Alex is an actor and co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Education Center (EEC), an organization that raises environmental awareness among children.

Alex has long been a presence in Thai television and cinema, having got his start in front of the camera when he was only 4 years old. He has featured in numerous well-known sitcoms and dramas such as Kom-Fak (Brave Man Standing) and Keb-Pan-Din (The Good Citizen).

Rendell’s EEC uses nature as a classroom to educate young people about their connection with the environment and encourage them to protect it. His most recent initiative, Kod-pa-Kod-talay (Embrace Our Forests and Seas), is working across 11 Thai provinces to raise awareness in youth and local authorities on the connection between humans and nature.

Alex is a strong advocate for plastic pollution prevention. SEA circular welcomed Alex as keynote speaker at SEA of Solutions 2019 – where he spoke in the opening plenary on localizing multi-stakeholder coordinated actions for fighting plastic pollution. 

“Educating youth and inspiring hearts means we can work to solve the plastic pollution issue at the roots, ” said Rendell in his opening keynote. 

“We are very pleased to have Alex join the UNEP family,” said Dechen Tsering, Regional Director for the UNEP’s Office for Asia and the Pacific. “He is a fantastic advocate for the planet as shown through his ongoing work with the EEC and his support to UNEP’s work over the years. Environmental challenges for the world, like climate change, plastic pollution and habitat loss are just as much challenges for Thailand.

“As we work to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, Alex’s voice will be more important than ever to ensure that the environment is at the heart of our efforts to build back better,” she added.

“Thais have such a strong cultural connection with nature and we are blessed with abundant and valuable natural resources,” said Rendell. “We are starting to see a change in people’s awareness of protecting nature, and not a moment too soon. The more that people are conscious of our environmental impact, the closer we get to living sustainably and protecting our home. I believe that education is a powerful tool to empower people to make sound environmental decisions. I’m excited to work with UNEP to help increase environmental awareness here in Thailand.”

Rendell is UNEP’s first National Goodwill Ambassador for Thailand and will continue to work closely with youth and in media to help mobilize people protect the planet.