Just announced from Sweden, The Honorable Al Gore has been awarded the 2007 Gothenburg Sustainable Development Award, Environmental News is reporting.
The jury said, "Gore has 'has called humanity to a deeper understanding of our serious situation – and what politicians, executives and all of us can and must do,'
The heat is growing, our Planet Earth has got fever," said the jury. "Already this gives rise to extreme weather with drought, cloudburst, hurricanes and misery to hundreds of millions of people. Global warming might dismantle the world economy - if we fail to put a stop to it!"
The Gothenburg Award on Sustainable Development 2007, one million Swedish kronor (US$144,000) aims to "stimulate and encourage strategic work for national and international sustainable development."
The Award was founded by the City of Gothenburg and several interested companies. It is distributed by the city together with Andra AP-fonden, Carl Bennet AB, Elanders AB, Eldan Recycling, Folksam, Götaverken Miljo, Handelsbanken, Nordea, Peab, Schenker AB, SKF, Stena Metall AB. This is the eighth Gothenburg Award.
"We are extremely proud and happy to be able to give the 2007 Gothenburg Award on Sustainable Development to Mr. Al Gore," said Stefan Edman, author, biologist and chairman of the jury.
On January 22, 2008, Gore will go toGothenburg to receive the award at the city's public Save the Climate Event. "This will be an unforgettable evening with prominent artists - and with a speech by the most important opinion maker today on Planet Earth," Edman said.
By giving his educational slide-show lectures all over the globe as shown in the awarded documentary film "An Inconvenient Truth," by writing books, by initiating rock concerts engaging young people and by using his position as a former vice president of the Unites States, Gore has shown an inspiring and most innovative, informal leadership, the jury said.
"His basic view is that we all, regardless of who and where we are, can personally contribute to the climate campaign. He has also started a long-term trainee program for people dedicated to spreading the message far and wide."
Gore's engagement in the environment started early; he held the very first hearing on global warming in the US Congress in the late 1970s. Since then he has travelled extensively in his pursuit of facts. He has pushed for stronger legislation and international agreements to reduce emissions and to promote more sustainable technologies and lifestyles.
His bestseller, "Earth in the Balance," was published in 1992, in connection with the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, where Gore played a prominent role.
"Al Gore has been extremely successful in combining scientific facts, human perspectives and brave political strategies with a catching optimism in what we must do to turn away from our planet's destiny for catastrophe," the jury said. "In his belief in mankind, and in the common sense of all of us, he has become a guru and crusader, giving millions of people hope for the future."