The prestigious award will be presented to him by environment minister Antonio Brack before his gig tonight at the Estadio Monumental in Lima, the first show of the Up & Coming Tour 2011.
The Order of the Cinchona Tree was recently founded by Peru’s environment ministry to commemorate individuals who strive to defend the environment and conserve biodiversity and natural resources.
As well as co-founding Meat Free Monday with daughters Mary and Stella, in November 2009 Paul joined Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the Nobel prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to address the European Parliament in Brussels, where they spoke on the importance to the environment of cutting meat consumption.
Paul – who recently announced his engagement to girlfriend Nancy Shevell – is said to be grateful and flattered to receive the award on his first visit to Peru.