Business for Peace Foundation (BfP) is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

foundation based in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, Norway. Formed in 2007 by Per Leif Saxegaard, the Foundation defines its mission as being "to recognise, inspire, and accelerate businessworthy leadership." It encourages ethical and responsible business practices that are value-driven with the goal of building trust, stability and peace worldwide. As of 2019, Marius Døcker became the Foundation's Managing Director. Each year, the Foundation organizes the Oslo Business for Peace Summit, which concludes with the presentation of the Oslo Business for Peace Award. Since 2009, the award has been given to up to seven honourees, business leaders "whose actions and commitments are making an outstanding contribution to the promotion of ethical behavior and peace". Honourees are selected by an independent committee made up of recipients who have won either the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

or the

Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (), commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics(), is an award in the field of economic sciences adminis ...

. The Oslo Business for Peace award is sometimes referred to as the “Nobel Prize of Business”.

Formation

The Business for Peace Foundation was founded in

, Norway in 2007 by economist Per Leif Saxegaard. The Foundation organizes the yearly Oslo Business for Peace Summit. In 2009, the Oslo Business for Peace Summit first presented the Oslo Business for Peace Award. In 2013, the Business for Peace Foundation partnered with the United Nations' Business for Peace (B4P) initiative, sponsored by United Nations Secretary-General

Ban Ki-Moon Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister ...

. The UN initiative has supported international efforts such as the

UN Global Compact The United Nations Global Compact is a non-binding United Nations pact to get businesses and firms worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. The UN Global Compact is the world's ...

Ten Principles for achieving peace and the

Sustainable Development Goals The ''2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development'', adopted by all United Nations (UN) members in 2015, created 17 world Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of these global goals is "peace and prosperity for people and the planet" – wh ...

(SDGs). Former secretary-general of the United Nations Kofi A. Annan has stated that ''"It is important to inspire and encourage businesspersons to be conscious of the role they can play as individuals to foster stability and peace. I think the idea behind the Oslo Business for Peace Award, and the potential impact it may have, is inspiring"''.

Being Business-worthy

The Business for Peace Foundation encourages the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The private sector employs most of the workfo ...

to follow responsible business practices. The Business for Peace Foundation promotes the concept of being "business-worthy", “ethically creating economic value that also creates value for society.” Such an approach seeks to raise business practices from short-term win-lose dynamics to fulfilling longer-term win-win business aims and building trust between the stakeholders and communities involved. Saxegaard has said that he finds inspiration in this quote from

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptised 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the field of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as the "father of economics"——— or ...

: Business-worthy leaders are expected to serve as models to society who will inspire other decision makers to direct their business activities in accordance with business-worthy principles. Business for Peace honourees have been studied to better understand their ethical leadership qualities and their potential role as drivers of change in peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding. They tend to follow ethical business practices such as (1) emphasizing shareholder returns for the promotion of jobs, economic development, and reductions in poverty (2) following the rule of law, avoiding corruption, recognizing contract and property rights, and engaging in dispute resolution; and (3) building community both externally as socially responsible corporate citizens, and internally through employee engagement, employee rights, and gender equity.

The Oslo Business for Peace Summit

Starting in May 2007, the

Business for Peace Summit has been held annually in the

Oslo City Hall Oslo City Hall () is a municipal building in Oslo, the capital of Norway. It houses the city council, the city's administration and various other municipal organisations. The building as it stands today was constructed between 1931 and 1950, wi ...

Summit Themes

*2007 - Peace and Stability through Trade *2008 - Globalisation: the good, the bad and the ugly *2009 - The World in Recession, a call for a more ethically aware capitalism? At the 2009 Summit, the Natural Resource Charter was presented. *2010 - Peace Through Trade: New Times *2011 - Business as an Instrument of Peace - Research Symposium in Oslo, in collaboration with the USIP, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Peace Research Institute Oslo *2012 - The Essences of Trust in Business Today *2013 - Business in Fragile Environments *2014 - The New Imperative: Creating Shared Value *2015 - How Can Sustainability be a Driver of Value Creation? *2016 - Moving Towards the Global Goals: Business as a Problem Solver *2017 - Brundtland +30: Breakthrough Ideas for Future-proofing the Global Economy *2018 - Building Trust: Accelerating Climate Leadership *2019 - Navigating in a World of Imbalance * 2020 - In 2020, 24 Business for Peace Award honourees from 21 countries signed an open letter, encouraging businesses to rebuild and address issues in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Global South. * 2021 - Spotlight Series: Rethinking Systems of Decent Work, a three-day online event was held instead of a summit due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. A selection of speakers who have contributed to the Summits:

Kjell Magne Bondevik Kjell Magne Bondevik (; born 3 September 1947) is a Norway, Norwegian Lutheranism, Lutheran Religious minister, minister and Politics of Norway, politician. As leader of the Christian Democratic Party (Norway), Christian Democratic Party, he ser ...

Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg Alexandra Christina, Countess of Frederiksborg, , formerly Princess Alexandra of Denmark (''née'' Manley; born 30 June 1964), is the former wife of Prince Joachim of Denmark, the younger brother of King Frederik X of Denmark. She was born in ...

, Roberto Servitje (

Grupo Bimbo Grupo Bimbo, S.A.B. de C.V. (also known simply as Bimbo) is a Mexican multinational food company with a presence in over 33 countries located in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. It has an annual sales volume of 15 billion dollars and is ...

), Guy F. Tozzoli (World Trade Center),

Vijay Kalantri Dr. Vijay Govardhandas Kalantri (born 1949) is an Indian industrialist. He is the Chairman and Managing Director of Balaji Infra Projects Limited (BIPL) and Dighi Port Limited (DPL). He is the President of All India Association of Industries, ...

(All India Association of Industries),

Jan Egeland Jan Egeland (born 12 September 1957) is a Norwegian diplomat, political scientist, humanitarian leader, and former Labour Party politician who has been Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council since 2013. He served as State Secretary ...

Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved popularity as part ...

Nabil Shaath Nabil Ali Muhammad (Abu Rashid) Shaath (, ; born 9 August 1938 in Safad) is a Palestinian politician, banker, management and development expert. Academic career Shaath received his master's degree in finance from the Wharton School of the Uni ...

, Anders Källström, Khater Massaad, Jinghai Zheng, John Lervik,

Margaret Beckett Margaret Mary Beckett, Baroness Beckett, (; born 15 January 1943), is a British politician. She was a member of Parliament (MP) for more than 45 years, first from 1974 to 1979 and then from 1983 to 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she was ...

Erik Solheim Erik Solheim (born 18 January 1955) is a Norwegian diplomat and former politician. He served in the Norwegian government from 2005 to 2012 as Minister of International Development and Minister of the Environment, and as Under-Secretary-General ...

, Festus G. Mogae,

Kandeh Yumkella Alhaji Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella (born July 5, 1959) is a Sierra Leonean agricultural economist, politician who served as a member of parliament and Chair of the Presidential Initiative on Climate Change, Renewable Energy and Food Security un ...

Jeremy Rifkin Jeremy Rifkin (born January 26, 1945) is an American economic and social theorist, writer, public speaker, political advisor, and activist. Rifkin is the author of 23 books about the influence of scientific and technological changes on the eco ...

, Anthony J. Venables, Gobind Nankani, Petter Nore, Long Yongtu, Timothy L. Fort, Patricia Aburdene, Juan Carlos Echeverry,

Børge Brende Børge Brende (born 25 September 1965) is a Norwegian politician and diplomat, and has been the president and CEO of the World Economic Forum since 2017. A member of the Conservative Party, he previously was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 201 ...

, Henrik Syse and

Erna Solberg Erna Solberg (; born 24 February 1961) is a Norwegian politician and the current Leader of the Opposition. She served as the prime minister of Norway from 2013 to 2021, and has been the leader of the Conservative Party of Norway, Conservative Part ...

The Oslo Business for Peace Award

The statue "the Just Man" has been created by the artist Bruce Naigles. It is presented to the Business for Peace Honourees during the formal award ceremony at

The Nomination Process

The Business for Peace Foundation works together with nominating partners to identify candidates who embody the values described by the criteria for the Oslo Business for Peace Award. Beginning in 2009, the Foundation has formally collaborated with the

International Chamber of Commerce The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC; French: ''Chambre de commerce internationale'') is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. ICC represents over 45 million businesses in over 170 countries who have interest ...

. Other partnerships include

Principles for Responsible Investment Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI or PRI) is a United Nations-supported international network of financial institutions working together to implement its six aspirational principles, often referenced as "the Principles". Its goal is to ...

, the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

and the

United Nations Global Compact The United Nations Global Compact is a non-binding United Nations pact to get businesses and firms worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. The UN Global Compact is the world's ...

The Award Committee

Following closure of the nomination period, the honourees are chosen by an independent committee selected from people who have received either the

or the

. Members of the award committee have included businesswoman Ouided Bouchamaoui (2016–), peace activist

Leymah Gbowee Leymah Roberta Gbowee (born 1 February 1972) is a Liberian peace activist responsible for leading a women's non-violent peace movement, Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace that helped bring an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. Her ...

(2014–), professor

Finn Kydland Finn Erling Kydland (born 1 December 1943) is a Norwegian economist known for his contributions to business cycle theory. He is the Henley Professor of Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He also holds the Richard P. Simmon ...

(2014–), professor Eric S. Maskin (2017–), human rights advocate and lawyer

Shirin Ebadi Shirin Ebadi (; born 21 June 1947) is an Iranian Nobel laureate, lawyer, writer, teacher and a former judge and founder of the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. In 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her pioneering effor ...

(2014 – 2018), economist

Michael Spence Andrew Michael Spence (born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American economist and Nobel laureate. Spence is the William R. Berkley Professor in Economics and Business at the Stern School of Business at New York University, and the Philip H. Kn ...

(2009 – 2017), 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 ...

(2009 – 2013) and professor

Wangari Maathai Wangari is a name of Kikuyu origin that may refer to: * Wangari Maathai (1940–2011), Kenyan environmental and political activist * Catherine Wangari Wainaina (born 1985), Kenyan beauty pageant contestant * Margaret Wangari Muriuki (born 1986), K ...

(2009 – 2011).

The Award Criteria

The Award Committee of the Business for Peace Foundation selects honourees who have demonstrated that it is possible for a business to enter into partnership with society, while remaining profitable and capable of longer-term growth. The Award Committee evaluates nominees according to three criteria. To be considered business-worthy, and a candidate for the award, a nominee must be: * A role model to the general public and their peers in the business community. * An advocate of ethical and responsible business principles, and social responsibility in

corporate governance Corporate governance refers to the mechanisms, processes, practices, and relations by which corporations are controlled and operated by their boards of directors, managers, shareholders, and stakeholders. Definitions "Corporate governance" may ...

. * Trusted by the stakeholders in the communities their businesses affects, ideally as a result of creating economic value in a way that also creates value for society.

Business for Peace Honourees

2009

* Anders Dahlvig, Sweden *

Mo Ibrahim Sir Mohammed Fathi Ahmed Ibrahim (; born 3 May 1946) is a Sudanese-British billionaire businessman. He worked for several telecommunications companies, before founding Celtel, which, when sold, had over 24 million mobile phone subscribers i ...

, Sudan *

Jeffrey R. Immelt Jeffrey Robert Immelt (born February 19, 1956) is an American manufacturing executive working as a venture partner at New Enterprise Associates. He previously was the CEO of General Electric from 2001 to 2017, and the CEO of GE's Medical System ...

, United States * Mohammed Jameel, Saudi Arabia * Jiang Jianqing, China * Josephine Okot, Uganda *

Zhengrong Shi Shi Zhengrong (, born on February 10, 1963) is a China, Chinese-Australia, Australian businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and, up to March 2013, chairman and chief executive officer of Suntech Power. Biography Shi was born in ...

, China

2010

* Francis Yeoh, Malaysia *

Emily Cummins Emily Jayne Cummins (born 11 February 1987) is an English inventor and entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional ...

, United Kingdom * William Rosenzweig, United States * Roberto Servitje, Mexico * Venkataramani Srivathsan, Nigeria *

Ratan Tata Ratan Naval Tata (28 December 1937 9 October 2024) was an Indian industrialist and philanthropist. He served as the chairman of Tata Group and Tata Sons from 1991 to 2012 and he held the position of interim chairman from October 2016 to Feb ...

, India *

Stef Wertheimer Stef Wertheimer (; 16 July 1926 – 26 March 2025) was an Israeli billionaire industrialist, investor, philanthropist and politician. He was a member of the Knesset, and was known for founding industrial parks in Israel and neighboring countries ...

, Israel

2011

2012

Ibrahim Abouleish Ibrahim Abouleish (; 23 March 1937 – 15 June 2017) was an Egyptian philanthropist, drug designer and chemist. He began his chemistry and medicine studies at the age of 19 in Austria. He did his doctorate in 1969 in the field of pharmacology an ...

, Egypt *

Eduardo Eurnekian Eduardo Eurnekian (born 4 December 1932) is an Argentine billionaire businessman of Armenian heritage. As of 2024, he is Argentina’s fourth-richest person, with a net worth of $3.4 billion. Early life Eurnekian was born in Argentina to Armenia ...

, Argentina * Vladas Lasas, Lithuania * David W. MacLennan, Canada * Reginald Mengi, Tanzania *

Latifur Rahman Latifur Rahman (1 March 1936 – 6 June 2017) was the 10th chief justice and the 2nd chief adviser of Bangladesh. Early life and education Latifur Rahman was born in Jessore on 1 March 1936. His father was the lawyer Khan Bahadur Lutfur Rahma ...

, Bangladesh

2013

Nadia Al-Sakkaf Nadia Abdulaziz Al-Sakkaf (; born 8 March 1977) is a former Yemeni Minister and politician. She was the editor in chief of the ''Yemen Times'' from 2005 until 2014, before becoming Yemen's first female Minister of Information. She fled Yemen in ...

, Yemen * Dean Cycon, United States * Margaret Mussoi L. Groff, Brazil * Connie Hasemann, Denmark * Arif Naqvi, Pakistan

2014

* Selima Ahmad, Bangladesh * Ouided Bouchamaoui, Tunisia *

Sir Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...

, United Kingdom * Kesha Kumari Damini, Nepal *

Adnan Kassar Adnan Kassar (; 1930 – 2 May 2025) was a Lebanese banker, businessman and politician, who served in different cabinet posts. Early life and education Kassar was born into a Sunni Muslim family in Beirut in 1930. His father, Wafiq Kassar, was ...

, Lebanon * Marilyn Carlson Nelson, United States

2015

* Juan Andrés Cano, Colombia * Merrill Joseph Fernando, Sri Lanka * Zahi Khouri, Palestine *

Poman Lo Poman Lo (; born 1979) is a Hong Kong business executive serving as the Vice Chairman of Century City International Holdings Limited and Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Regal Hotels Group. Century City Group comprises a total of five li ...

, Hong Kong, China *

Paul Polman Paulus Gerardus Josephus Maria Polman, (born 11 July 1956) is a Dutch people, Dutch businessman and author. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the British/Dutch consumer goods company Unilever. Polman is also the co-author (with Andrew ...

, Netherlands

2016

* Sarah Beydoun, Lebanon * Tore Lærdal, Norway * Jennifer Nkuene Riria, Kenya

2017

* Durreen Shahnaz, Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), Bangladesh & Singapore * Harley Seyedin, multi-national electricity and low carbon infrastructure development, Iran & United States * Murad Al-Katib, sustainable agriculture and contributing to feeding millions of refugee families in the Syrian crisis, Canada *

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...

, South Africa & United States

2018

* Lori Blaker, CEO of TTi Global, United States * Martin Naughton KBE, Founder of GlenDimplex, Ireland * Edgar Montenegro, Founder and CEO of Corpocampo, Colombia

2019

* Alice Laugher, CEO Committed to Good (CTG),

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Hamdi Ulukaya Hamdi Ulukaya (born 26 October 1972) is a Turkish billionaire businessman, activist and philanthropist of Kurdish ethnicity based in the United States. He is the founder, owner, chairman, and chief executive officer of the strained yogurt bra ...

, CEO of

Chobani Chobani is an American food company specializing in strained yogurt. The company was founded in 2005 by Hamdi Ulukaya, a Turkish businessman of Kurds, Kurdish origin. Chobani sells thick, Greek yogurt with a higher protein content than traditional ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

* Agbor Ashumanyi Ako, co-founder of GiftedMom,

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

2020

* James Mwangi,

Group Managing Director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

and Group Chief Executive Officer of the Equity Group Holdings Limited,

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Marc Benioff Marc Russell Benioff (born September 25, 1964) is an American internet entrepreneur and philanthropist. Benioff is best known as the co-founder, chairman and CEO of the software company Salesforce, as well as being the owner of ''Time (magazine ...

, Founder, chairman, and CEO,

Salesforce Salesforce, Inc. is an American cloud-based software company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It provides applications focused on sales, customer service, marketing automation, e-commerce, analytics, artificial intelligence, and ap ...

, United States * Felicitas ‘Joji’ Bautista Pantoja, CEO and Co-Founder of Coffee for Peace, Philippines & Canada

References

External links

Business for Peace Foundation
nbsp;– Official webpage for Business for Peace {{DEFAULTSORT:Business For Peace Foundation, The Business organisations based in Norway Awards established in the 2000s