COPENHAGEN (AP) — Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was one of four people awarded Wednesday with a Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel”. The award-giving foundation recognized Thunberg “for inspiring and amplifying political demands for urgent climate action that reflect scientific facts.”
Thunberg, 16, who has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, “embodies the idea that everyone has the power to create change. His example has inspired and empowered people of all kinds to claim political action,” the foundation added. The Swedish German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull created the annual Right Livelihood Awards in 1980 to recognize efforts that he believed were ignored by the Nobel Prizes.The four winners will receive one million Swedish kronor ($103,000). The foundation also gave its 2019 award to Davi Kopenawa and the Yanomami Hutukaea Association, which represents the Brazilian indigenous tribe, for protecting the Amazon rainforest and its peoples; to Moroccan activist Aminatou Haidar “for her strong nonviolent action” in defense of Western Sahara and Chinese lawyer Guo Jianmei for her work for women’s rights in China.” We pay tribute to four practical visionaries, whose leadership has empowered millions of people to defend their inalienable rights and fight for a bearable future for all on planet Earth,” said Ole von Uexkull, director of the foundation and nephew of the Founder. The awards are presented at an event in Stockholm on December 4, six days before the Nobel gala.
