Lewis Pugh is an environmental campaigner, maritime lawyer and endurance swimmer. He is best known for swimming swim across the North Pole to highlight the melting of the Arctic sea ice and for swimming across a glacial lake on Mt Everest to draw attention to melting glaciers in the Himalayas. He has received a number of awards including France and South Africa's highest honours. In 2011, the World Economic Forum named him a Young Global Leader.