Every year The Nobel prizes are been awarded in Oslo and Stockholm. Instituted more than a hundred years ago by Alfred Nobel, a manufacturer of weapons and explosives, they reflect the remorse he felt about making a fortune from the sale of dynamite and weapons. He established a fund which, ever since his death in 1901, has been used to award annual prizes to people or institutions for their contribution to society. They focus on the future, rewarding high ideals and progress, rather than cynicism and destruction.
The Nobel Prizes were the first international awards for achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace. One addition has been made. In 1968 the Sveriges Riksbank (Bank of Sweden) endowed the "Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel." Since then, nothing has changed. In our view, the time has come for the next visionary step -- the endowment of a prize for sustainable development.
The world has undergone considerable changes since the 1960s. Concern about the darker side of mass consumption and the use of fossil fuels has grown since the Club of Rome published its reports on global environmental pollution in the early 1970s. Economic development has affected our environment and generated huge differences in global prosperity. It is imperative that a close watch is kept on the balance between economy, the environment and development. In 1987 the former prime minister of Norway, Ms Bruntlandt, wrote her famous report, Our common future. In this she coined the phrase "sustainable development" and explained the relationship between development and the environment, describing it as, "a development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
To put it simply, sustainability means taking account of human society and the environment, now and later, here and elsewhere. The Bruntlandt report was followed by two world conferences in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and in Johannesburg this year to consider the issues of poverty, development and the environment. The importance of human and environmentally friendly actions has been recognized at the highest level. Climate change, desertification, the lack of clean water and the loss of biodiversity are already endangering the earth. The depletion of our natural resources, global warming and the loss of biodiversity now matches concerns about war and disease.
Sustainable development has become an increasingly familiar term, but familiarity does not necessarily mean that anything is also actually done to address it. The topic generates a greater amount of paper than the number of successful examples of countries, businesses or projects that can show to have adopted practical approaches to putting it into effect. It is time now to found a Nobel Prize for sustainable development to celebrate those who give more than lip service to the issue and actually do something about it. Not defeatism, but innovation, technological advances and responsibility should be rewarded. The prize should be open to the business community as well as scientists, politicians, social organizations and ordinary people. Technological breakthroughs and changes in consumer behavior are essential to the earth's future, and without the leadership of the business community this will be impossible to achieve. Socially responsible entrepreneurship and moral leadership must become the characteristics of corporate business.
A Nobel Prize for sustainable development would give a boost to social and environmentally friendly development. Prize winners can expect a degree of fame and status which can help them promote their views. Sometimes a Nobel Prize can also provide a shield of protection and immunity. Repressive governments have been embarrassed by the attention shown to winners such as the Dalai Lama (Tibet) and Aung San Suu Kyi (Burma). A prize for sustainable development may give a new incentive to world leaders to support innovative projects and respect international treaties.
In March 2003 we will be writing formally to ask the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm to consider a Nobel Prize for Sustainable Development. Citizens, businesses, organizations and politicians all over the world are invited to add their name to the letter via www.sustainable-prize.net.
James Greenwood is a member of the US Congress, Chris Davies is a British member of the European Parliament, Ingrid Aaldijk is a former UN Youth representative and Boris van der Ham is a member of parliament in The Netherlands.
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