American economist, academic and public policy analyst Jeffrey Sachs was awarded the fifth Tang Prize in sustainable development on Saturday.
Sachs, known as a global leader in sustainable development and poverty alleviation, was recognized for “leading transdisciplinary sustainability science and creating the multilateral movement for its applications from village to nation and to the world,” the award citation released by the Tang Prize Foundation said.
Twice named among Time magazine’s 100 most influential world leaders, Sachs is director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, where he is a professor.
The 67-year-old is also president of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, a sustainability advocate for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, chair of the Lancet COVID-19 Commission, and cofounder and director of the Millennium Promise Alliance.
Sachs is widely recognized for proposing bold strategies to address complex challenges such as extreme poverty, human-induced climate change, international debt, financial crises, national economic reforms and disease control.
When addressing complex issues related to global sustainable development, he has combined the fields of global economics, public health, equity and sustainability to pioneer a multidisciplinary approach, transforming sustainable development into an integrated field of study and practice, the foundation said.
“His scholarship, advice to world leaders, educational innovation, and efforts in the global advocacy and realization of sustainable development have proven him to be a true leader of great vision, of profound influence, and imbued with deep humanistic concern,” it said.
Sachs said in a recorded video that he was thrilled to be a Tang Prize laureate and is inspired by the talent and leadership of other recipients of the prize.
“When I look at the contributions of the fellow recipients over the years, it of course makes me humble about whatever I can do, and it also helps me to explain to the world how much we can learn, know and help to improve the world through knowledge,” he said.
Sachs’ large body of published work includes New York Times bestsellers The End of Poverty (2005), Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet (2008), and The Price of Civilization (2011).
He was the corecipient of the 2015 Blue Planet Prize, the leading global award for environmental leadership.
Sachs last year was awarded the TUBA Academy Prize by the Turkish Academy of Sciences, the National Order of the Legion of Honour by France and the Order of the Cross by Estonia. He holds 38 honorary doctorates awarded by Macau University of Science and Technology, University of Siena in Italy, and Amrita University in Kerala, India, among others.
The Tang Prize is a biennial award established in 2012 by Taiwanese entrepreneur Samuel Yin (尹衍樑), chairman of the Ruentex Group, to honor people who have made prominent contributions in sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, sinology and rule of law.
The winners in each category share a cash award of NT$40 million (US$1.35 million) and NT$10 million to go toward research.
Former Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland won the first Tang Prize in sustainable development in 2014, and US physicist and former commissioner of the California Energy Commission Arthur Rosenfeld won the second in 2016.
James Hansen, director of the Program on Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, shared the 2018 award with Veerabhadran Ramanathan, director of the Center for Clouds, Chemistry and Climate at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego.
World-renowned British primatologist, ethologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall was the winner of the Tang Prize in sustainable development in 2020.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS