Robert Swan OBE

Robert Swan, OBE 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 climate change. 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 thepreservation 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.

Since 2003, Swan has led annual expeditions to Antarctica with students and business executives to heighten awareness of the Antarctic and build advocacy to ensure its survival as a wilderness. His teams have also helped design and build the world’s first Antarctic renewable energy education station.

Swan has served as Special Envoy to the UNESCO Director General and as a UN Goodwill Ambassador for Youth. In recognition of his work, Her Majesty the Queen awarded him the high distinction of OBE, Officer of the Order of the British Empire and the Polar Medal.