Founded in 2006 by the Veolia Foundation to raise public awareness of the major challenges of the ecological transition, the Environmental Book Award reached a historic milestone this year. For its 21st edition in France, the Award expanded its borders for the very first time by exporting to China, giving environmental literature and environmental awareness an unprecedented international dimension.
On Saturday, September 12,
on the occasion of the Le Livre sur la place
book fair in Nancy as well as in Beijing,
the French and Chinese juries unveiled
the winners of the 2026 Environmental Book Award.
Two parallel selection processes in France and China
For this 2026 edition, the French selection involved a careful reading of over 160 books (adult and youth categories) submitted by publishing houses or identified by the Veolia Foundation. Following an initial selection of twenty titles, seven books reached the finals (four in the Adult category and three for the Youth Mention).
The jury, chaired by naturalist Bruno David (former President of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris), is composed of committed figures from the scientific, literary, and non-profit sectors, as well as representatives from the Veolia group. They met to choose the two winning works for this year:
- 2026 Environmental Book Award Winner: Nous sommes faits d’eau (We Are Made of Water) by Simon Porcher, published by Les Corps Conducteurs.
- 2026 Youth Mention Winner: Arbres légendaires by Chris Lavaquerie-Klein, Laurence Paix-Rusterholtz, and Orane Sigal, published by Nathan.
In France: a demanding competition led by a panel of experts
Organized in partnership with the educational institution Jingshi Data (Beijing) Education Technology, affiliated with Beijing Normal University, the process began in April with the sourcing of nearly 100 candidate books. A pre-selection was carried out by reading committees combining university representatives and 100 Veolia volunteer employees to shortlist 50 titles. A multidisciplinary jury composed of academics, researchers, and children's literature specialists selected 13 books to ultimately retain three joint winners (ex aequo):
- Teaching a Lynx to Forget the Zoo by Qi Xinzhang: the return to the wild of a rescued lynx, balancing care and rediscovered freedom.
- Shir Jahan illustrated by Roger Myrtle: an Indian fresco on the miracle of ecological restoration, told from the perspective of the land.
- Red Lips, Green Roofs: Finding What Climate Change Has Lost by Lao Jiadi, illustrated by Wu Xi: a fantastical journey about climate change, led by a red-lipped monkey. .
In China: a successful first edition and employee engagement
Expanded internationally for the first time, the Veolia Foundation's Environmental Book Award in China focused, for its launch year, on children's literature (books for ages 8–12 written in Chinese)—an essential lever for awakening ecological awareness in younger generations.
To extend the educational impact of this award, the Veolia Foundation will purchase 500 copies of each winning book to distribute to its local partners, while organizing meetings between the authors and young readers.