
The Volvo Environment Prize is a highly regarded annual scientific
award
An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration.
An award may be d ...
. The prize is awarded to individuals who "''explore the way to a
sustainable
Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...
world''." The prize is awarded by the Volvo Environment Prize Foundation which was instituted in 1988. Scientific excellence is the most important criterion for becoming a laureate. The candidate must have an outstanding research and publication record in his or her field. Strong emphasis is also placed on the research's impact on the policy and application sectors.
The Volvo Environment Prize recipient receives a "hand-crafted diploma, a glass sculpture and a cash award of
SEK 1.5 million (approximately Euro 135,000 or USD 140,000)".
Organisation
A scientific committee headed by Professor
Carl Folke does the initial screening and evaluation of candidates, which are presented to the International prize jury. The prize jury is chaired by Professor Mary Scholes (
University of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...
, South Africa) with members Professor Peijun Shi (
Beijing Normal University
Beijing Normal University (BNU) () is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education of China, and co-funded by the Ministry of Education and the B ...
, China), Professor Kazuhiko Takeuchi (
University of Tokyo
The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...
, Japan) Dr. Sybille van den Hove (
Autonomous University of Barcelona
The Autonomous University of Barcelona (; Spanish: ; ; UAB) is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain.
, the university consists of 57 departments in the experimental, lif ...
, Spain) and Professor
Johan Rockström,
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
Laureates
Since the first award in 1990, the prize has gone to 52 individuals. Among them are many well-known researchers and three scientists who first received the Volvo Environment Prize and later the
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
. The laureates represent all fields of
environmental and sustainability studies and initiatives.
* 2024 Professor
Frank Biermann for "defining new pathways for international
environmental governance in a period of global change"
* 2023 Professor
Eduardo Brondizio for "world leading research in complex systems thinking, which is embedded in an ethnographic approach"
* 2022 Professor
Richard Thompson, Professor
Tamara Galloway, Professor
Penelope Lindeque for "ground breaking research that has been instrumental in providing societal awareness of plastic pollution as an emerging global challenge"
*2021 Professor
Paul Anastas for "pioneering work in ”
green chemistry
Green chemistry, similar to sustainable chemistry or circular chemistry, is an area of chemistry and chemical engineering focused on the design of products and processes that minimize or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. Wh ...
”, a systems approach to sustainability that tackles pollution problems at their source"
*2020 Professor
Claire Kremen for "research and action reconciling food production and
biodiversity
Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...
conservation"
*2019 Professor
Terry Chapin for being a "world-leading
ecologist
Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...
and profound thinker on
stewardship of the Earth"
*2018 Professor
Xuemei Bai for being a "global thought leader in urban sustainability research"
*2017 Professor
Rashid Sumaila for being "one of the worlds’ most innovative researchers into the future of the
oceans
The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctic/Southern, and ...
and
marine life
Marine life, sea life or ocean life is the collective ecological communities that encompass all aquatic animals, aquatic plant, plants, algae, marine fungi, fungi, marine protists, protists, single-celled marine microorganisms, microorganisms ...
"
*2016 Professor
Carlos Nobre for "pioneering efforts in understanding the
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
"
*2015 Professor
Henning Rodhe for "groundbreaking contributions to the understanding of the world’s atmosphere"
*2014 Professor
Eric Lambin
Eric Lambin (born 23 September 1962) is a Belgian geographer. He is a professor at the Université catholique de Louvain and Stanford University.
From 1999 to 2005, he was Chair of the Land Use and Land Cover Change (LUCC) project (a joint initia ...
for "advancing the global understanding of
land use change
Land use is an umbrella term to describe what happens on a parcel of land. It concerns the benefits derived from using the land, and also the land management actions that humans carry out there. The following categories are used for land use: for ...
and what it means for human wellbeing"
*2013
Qin Dahe for "research on the
cryosphere
The cryosphere is an umbrella term for those portions of Earth's surface where water is in solid form. This includes sea ice, ice on lakes or rivers, snow, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, and frozen ground (which includes permafrost). Thus, there ...
and impact on the
global climate"
*2012 Professor
Gretchen Daily
Gretchen C. Daily (born October 19, 1964) is an American environmental scientist and tropical ecologist. She has contributed to understanding humanity's dependence and impacts on nature, and to advancing a systematic approach for valuing nature i ...
for "valuation of
natural capital
Natural capital is the world's stock of natural resources, which includes geology, soils, air, water and all living organisms. Some natural capital assets provide people with free goods and services, often called ecosystem services. All of t ...
and
ecosystem services
Ecosystem services are the various benefits that humans derive from Ecosystem, ecosystems. The interconnected Biotic_material, living and Abiotic, non-living components of the natural environment offer benefits such as pollination of crops, clean ...
"
*2011 Professor
Hans Joachim Schellnhuber for "leadership at the global level in the intellectual and conceptual development of
Earth System science
Earth system science (ESS) is the application of systems science to the Earth. In particular, it considers interactions and 'feedbacks', through material and energy fluxes, between the Earth's sub-systems' cycles, processes and "spheres"—atmosp ...
"
*2010
Harold A. Mooney for having "championed the idea that biodiversity is a key piece in
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...
functioning"
*2009 Dr.
Susan Solomon for having "played a key role in producing the report that has helped the world understand the severity of
global warming
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...
"
*2008 Professor
C. S. Holling for "his pioneering lifetime work on ecosystem dynamics, transformation and resilience"
*2007
Amory Lovins for "his outstanding achievements in the field of
energy efficiency"
*2006 Professor
Ray Hilborn
Ray Hilborn (born 1947) is a marine biologist and fisheries scientist, known for his work on conservation and natural resource management in the context of fisheries. He is currently professor of aquatic and fishery science at the University of ...
, Professor
Daniel Pauly
Dr. Sir Daniel Pauly is a France, French-born marine biologist, well known for his work in studying human impacts on global fisheries and in 2020 was the most cited fisheries scientist in the world. He is a professor and the project leader of the ...
and Professor
Carl Walters for their work on "human impacts on global ocean environments"
*2005 Dr.
Mary T. Kalin Arroyo and Professor
Aila Inkeri Keto for their work on "understanding of the importance of conservation"
*2004 Dr.
David Satterthwaite,
Jamie Lerner, Dr.
Luisa Molina and Dr.
Mario Molina for their "outstanding work on three linked
urbanization
Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from Rural area, rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. ...
themes"
*2003 Professor
Madhav Gadgil and Professor
Muhammad Yunus
Muhammad Yunus (born 28 June 1940) is a Bangladeshi economist, entrepreneur, and civil society leader who has been serving as the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh, Chief Adviser of the Interim government of Muhammad Yunus, interim Yunus ministry, g ...
for being "true and worthy scientists of the poor"
*2002
Partha Dasgupta
Sir Partha Sarathi Dasgupta (born 17 November 1942) is an Indian-British economist who is Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, and a fellow of St John's College, Cambridge.
Personal life
H ...
and
Karl-Göran Mäler for their work on "
property rights
The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership), is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their Possession (law), possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely ...
,
poverty
Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...
, and
economic development
In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...
"
*2001 Dr.
George M. Woodwell for his work on "ecosystem research and
public policy
Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...
development"
*2000 Professor
José Goldemberg, Dr.
Thomas B. Johansson, Professor
Amulya Kumar N. Reddy and Dr.
Robert H. Williams for their work on "environmentally sound solutions to
global energy needs"
*1999 Dr.
M. S. Swaminathan for his work on "agriculture and resource conservation to
eradicate poverty"
*1998 Professor
David Schindler and Professor
Malin Falkenmark for their work on "availability and quality of
freshwater
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...
"
*1997 Dr.
Syukuro Manabe and Dr.
Veerabhadran Ramanathan for their work on "
climate modelling and
climate change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
"
*1996 Dr.
James Lovelock for his work on "new sensitive measurement techniques"
*1995 Professor
Gilbert F. White for his work on natural resource planning
*1994 Professor
Gita Sen for her work on "poverty and environment‚ the role of women"
*1993 Professor
Paul R. Ehrlich and Professor
John P. Holdren for their work on "understanding of population and resources"
*1992 Dr.
Norman Myers and Professor
Peter H. Raven for working on "biodiversity, particularly in
tropical regions"
*1991 Professor
Paul Crutzen
Paul Jozef Crutzen (; 3 December 1933 – 28 January 2021) was a Dutch meteorologist and atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric chemist. In 1995, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry alongside Mario Molina and F. Sherwood Rowland, Frank Sherw ...
for his research projects in
atmospheric chemistry
Atmospheric chemistry is a branch of atmospheric science that studies the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere and that of other planets. This multidisciplinary approach of research draws on environmental chemistry, physics, meteorology, comput ...
*1990 Professor
John V. Krutilla and Professor
Allen V. Kneese for their work on "
environmental and
resource economics
Natural resource economics deals with the Supply (economics), supply, Demand (economics), demand, and Resource allocation, allocation of the Earth's natural resources. One main objective of natural resource economics is to better understand th ...
"
See also
*
List of environmental awards
References
{{Reflist
External links
Volvo Environment PrizePrize Blog: Exploring the way to a sustainable future
Swedish awards
Environmental awards
Volvo
Awards established in 1990
1990 establishments in Sweden