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Dubai: The region has experienced a very positive development in environmental protection, a leading United Nations professor and environmentalist said.
The region is changing and it is fascinating and amazing to see, said Klaus Toepfer, leading professor in environment for sustainable development at the United Nations Environment Programme.
Toepfer is in Dubai to announce the winners of the Zayed International Prize for the Environment for the fourth cycle.
Global efforts
The prize was founded in 1999 by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
$1m (Dh3.67m) is divided between winning individuals and organisations recognised for promoting sustainable development.
The prize is considered to be the UAE's highest contribution towards global efforts to promote sustainable development. It is presented every two years in three categories including global leadership in environment, scientific or technological achievements in environment and environmental action leading to positive change in society.
Achievers
Previous winners have included Jimmy Carter and Kofi Annan.
"This is one of the most outstanding prizes," said Toepfer. "It is fascinating to see this prize in this region, a region where you don't expect such activity to take place," he said.
Zayed Award: Winners announced
This year's winners will be awarded on June 9 in Dubai. The prize for global leadership has been awarded to Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland from Norway. Former prime minister of Norway she served as the director-general of the World Health Organisation and now works as special envoy on climate change for the United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon.
The prize for scientific or technological achievements is shared between Jane Lubchenco, a world leader in environmental sciences and V. Ramanathan, a distinguished climatologist.
The third prize for environment action leading to positive change in society has been given to Environment Development Action in the Third World (ENDA) established in Senegal in 1972.
ENDA works with the poor and developed a range of projects and activities to combat desertification, sustainable energy and grassroots community self-help programmes.
This prize is also shared with Tierrmerica, a specialist information service on environment and development produced by the international news agency Inter Press Service.
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