Gisele Bündchen Appointed UN Goodwill Ambassador

One of the famous faces today has become the new face of global environmental action.

Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen has been appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) on September 20 in a ceremony at the Washington Square Park Fountain in New York City.


As UN ambassador for the protection of the environment, Gisele Bündchen will take on the issues of climate change and environmental degradation. The supermodel has also recently advocated for the protection of the Amazon rainforest and has attended a Rainforest Alliance Gala earlier this year.

As an environmental activist, Gisele Bündchen's initiatives include the wearing of her "water dress" in 2007 to pimp her own line of Grendene sandals and promote water conservation (specifically the Xingu river which flows into the Amazon and is suffering from deforestation). Then she launched her own green blog. Later, she wore a "forest outfit" in the latest campaign for Ipanema flip flop line to raise awareness on Atlantic deforestation and to support SOS Mata Atlantica.

Gisele Bündchen is now active in her Forests of the Future project, seeking to recover gallery forest, the vegetation that surrounds rivers and streams participating in the protection of water. The supermodel will also star next spring in the animated AOL webisodes series GiGi & the Green Team where she plays the cartoon hero GiGi who "lives a double life — supermodel by day, superhero protector of the environment by night."

Gisele Bundchen's take on becoming a UN Ambassador:

"The environment has always been my passion. I grew up in a small town and I had the opportunity to live surrounded by nature. I couldn't have asked for a better childhood.

"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.

"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. Now it's about action on a global scale to secure a healthy future for the next generation, wherever they live in the world."

Gisele Bündchen has also told reporters she believes Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva should work harder to prevent deforestation. In response, President da Silva has announced a proposal to limit sugarcane production in the Amazon and other ecologically sensitive areas as proof of his commitment to preserve the Amazon.

Now that's one of the many things a supermodel can do — using her sexiness to save the environment and specifically, pressuring government leaders to join her cause!


UN Goodwill Ambassador Gisele Bündchen now works alongside fellow Goodwill Ambassador and French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand.