South Africa and President Mbeki hailed by the United Nations Environment Programme

South Africa and President Thabo Mbeki have been listed as "Champions of the Earth", the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) said on Tuesday.

It described Mbeki and South Africa's people as outstanding leaders in the field of environmental conservation.

They were setting an example for the world to follow, Unep said.

"The people of South Africa have not just made substantial progress in the sustainable development of their own country, they have provided leadership and support for the continent as a whole."

Unep lauded South Africa for the rate at which it was putting recommendations of 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) into effect.

This particularly applied to targets on the provision of water and sanitation set at the WSSD meeting in Johannesburg.

Six other individuals or countries would receive similar awards at a ceremony to be held at the UN's New York headquarters on April 19, Unep said.

They are:

# the king and people of Bhutan;

# Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates (posthumously);

# Greek orthodox leader Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew;

# Julia Carabias Lillo, former environment minister of Mexico;

# Sheila Watt-Cloutier of Canada, president of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference; and

# Zhou Qiang and the All-China Youth Federation.