Teenage environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg has been awarded the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity after judges described her as ‘one of the most remarkable figures of our days’.
But she won’t be keeping the €1 million prize money; instead, Thunberg says she will be donating the funds to charitable projects which are fighting against ‘the climate and ecological crisis’.
Receiving the award, the 17-year-old activist said this: “I am incredibly honoured and extremely grateful to have been rewarded the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity. This means a lot to me and I hope … that it will help me do more good in the world.”
Thunberg says the prize money is more than she can ‘even begin to imagine’. “We’re in a climate emergency, and my foundation will as quickly as possible donate all the prize money of one million euros to support organizations and projects that are fighting for a sustainable world.” Thunberg specifies that these are projects which are ‘fighting to defend nature and the natural world’ and which work ‘to help people on the front lines affected by the climate crisis’ – especially, she adds, in the ‘Global South’.
My foundation will as quickly as possible donate all the prize money of one million euros to support organizations and projects that are fighting for a sustainable world
“I hope that this will have an impact and that it will create difference.”
The Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity is awarded annually, to recognize people and organizations around the world ‘whose contributions to mitigation and adaptation to climate change stand out for its novelty, innovation and impact’.
In 2019 Thunberg was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year and she has been nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Image credit: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
