Roberto Manrique, a decade inspired by the Green Awards: “It gave me an injection of faith in humanity”

Revitalized, excited and full of hope. This is what the Ecuadorian actor sounds like Roberto Manrique and host of the Premios Verde gala, from the Galapagos Islands, the venue for the tenth ceremony.

In an interview with this newspaper, Manrique reflected on the lessons he learned after decades of being surrounded by people who love and care for the environment from different perspectives and industries. Except, He announced that we will soon see him on streaming because he has recorded two new series: one for HBO Max and the other for Paramount Plus.

You have been the host of the Green Awards since its inception, what personal lessons have you learned from participating in each edition?

First, although the climate crisis situation is extremely worrying, there is hope in people. Above all, it left me with an injection of faith in humanity, it left me with the certainty that although efforts still need to be multiplied and made visible to inspire even more people, there are people already doing things and that is super important. We tend to receive a flood of negative news all the time about everything that is wrong and we end up focusing on everything that hasn’t been done and I feel that this creates a certain immobilization (or paralysis) in many people and exactly what we need is more people getting inspired They are For 10 years, the mi Green Awards have repeatedly shown how many people are doing positive things.

Do you have an unforgettable moment or one that particularly stuck in your memory during this time?

The first thing that comes to mind is the string of speeches when the winners take the stage to receive their trophy and grab the microphone and shock us with their stories. It is not easy to implement an ecological project, so those who come at this stage have given their best, sacrificed a lot, have very deep motives and that is why they bring such strong and emotional stories and also indicate that they deserve this award. This is something that makes us who have the privilege to be there and watch them very emotional.

How have they inspired you to grow personally as an environmentalist?

They challenge me. every year they raise the bar of what it means to give 100% for the Earth and that seems very strong and very healthy to me. That’s why I dedicated myself more and more to the goal and tried more and more to improve the changes in my daily life. It is a constant challenge to go further and give more of yourself.

How is the energy of Premios Verdes perceived from the stage?

It’s strange, but the energy was always the same, it was a constant. What I feel now, in a year as different and special as this tenth edition in the Galapagos, is not much different from the energy of previous editions and it is a super strong and magical energy that has to do with a space that gathers very passionate people, very dedicated and it is finally getting your recognition and support in many ways, there is ecstasy here and that is the energy of Premios Verdes. And we confirmed that because it doesn’t matter if they are organized behind closed doors in Guayaquil or next to the open river in the Palacio de Cristal or if we go to Miami and are full of celebrities or come to the Galapagos.

What do you expect from this tenth meeting?

First, that it should be as wonderful as the previous one, so that people can leave even more inspired by the very special context that the Galapagos Islands imply and the way in which it brings us closer to the essence of life. I hope that entrepreneurs and all those who present their projects here will come out stronger to continue to transform themselves and to continue to want to transform the world, and that the general public who sees us will become even more interested in the purpose of the Green Awards, to become mainstream..

On an acting level, what projects have you worked on?

I have been in Mexico for two years and a year ago I resumed acting, which led to a break. Last year I did a couple of series, one for HBO Max and one for Paramount Plus and both will premiere this 2023. There’s no date yet and we can’t predict anything, but they should be out this year.