An award for humanity

From GNM no. 1 (English edition), 2013. This article was published in the print magazine and is reproduced here in its original form. Facts and figures were correct at the time of writing.

It all started with a stamp collection and the desire to highlight solutions that benefit the development of humankind. This is how the Right Livelihood Award – also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize – was born. Good News Magazine met the founder Jakob von Uexkull.

By Lisa Gahnertz Photo Maria Macri

Poverty and environmental damage: Jakob von Uexkull was all too aware of earth’s problems. His commitment to creating a better world started early on in his childhood in a politically active family. He saw there were solutions to society’s problems – written about in magazines and books or talked about by enthusiastic people – but these solutions were neither put into practice nor taken much notice of.

“I thought that if you get a Nobel Prize, then you’d be taken seriously. In Alfred Nobel’s time, it wasn’t relevant to have a prize for ecology or human development, but now it was,” says Jakob von Uexkull.

No sooner said than done. He put his idea to the Nobel Prize Committee: that a new prize focusing on improvements for humanity should be created, in the same way as the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was instituted. The Nobel Committee considered the idea but decided that it did not follow the principles set out in the statutes.

Stamps led the way

Jakob von Uexkull was left alone with his vision – and the thought that perhaps he could make it come true anyway. Cheered on by his friends, he decided to try. He was – and still is – a stamp collector. A stamp collection from the Arabian Peninsula brought in a million dollars when sold and this became the first contribution to the new award. The Right Livelihood Award was born.

That was thirtythree years ago. During the first few years, there was a rumour that the CIA or KGB had created the award in order to discredit the Nobel Prize. After five years, the award was so well known that the ceremony started taking place in the Swedish parliament building. Nowadays, the award is given out there every year a few days before the Nobel Prize festivities. And even though the Nobel Prize Committee decided not to create such a prize, the global press always associates the Right Livelihood Award with the Nobel Prize anyway, and nowadays it is also known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’.

Right Livelihood

Right Livelihood is a term Jakob has borrowed from Buddhism. It is a part of the Buddhist teachings about how we should make a living: by not harming others and by contributing something positive to society. The Right Livelihood Award honours those who do just this and it is not limited to specific categories.

So far, there have been 149 award winners from 62 different countries – with a special focus on grassroots activists: dedicated individuals or organizations that work for things like social equality, military disarmament, the right to food and water and a better environment.

Award winners include Indian activist-advocate-intellectual Vandana Shiva, who for more than 35 years, has been a campaigner on the ethical and ecological impacts of genetic engineering, the journalist Amy Goodman, who started the independent news program Democracy Now! and the Kenyan environmental and human rights activist, Wangari Maathai, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, twenty years after getting the Right Livelihood Award.

A couple of Swedes have also been received the award. Astrid Lindgren got it for giving children’s rights a voice as well as the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation that supports women’s organizations in war-torn and conflict regions.

The Award’s impact

As well as giving the winners a sum of money to help them in their fight for a better world, the award also gives them the chance to reach an international audience and make their voices heard. When we asked Jakob von Uexkull if the award has the impact he wanted it to have, his answer is ‘yes and no’.

“It’s wonderful that an award from a relatively small foundation can help a lawyer in Paraguay stop an ex-dictator from returning to the country by making sure he would be put into prison if he came back. Or that a poor farmers’ organization, which was previously shut out, could come to the ministry to put forward its point of view.

“I’m disappointed that the award isn’t a part of the mainstream and that we still have to overcome old structures that get in the way of change. The visions are there, the problems are clear, but there is no political courage to implement solutions.”

He talks quickly. His personal commitment is obvious. Our conversation turns to the topic that Jakob thinks is our greatest problem today: climate change.

Climate change is the biggest problem

Every day we do not do something about climate change is a crime against future generations.

“Our enormous growth has come about at the cost of our future generations and we can’t go on living at their expense. Time is rushing backwards – what we thought would be our grandchildren’s children’s problem is now our own. I call myself a ‘possibilist’, someone who sees possibilities. There’s enough evidence that says it still isn’t too late to stop climate change, but we have to hurry. We’ve wasted decades by not even being aware of the problem.”

Jakob believes we have to readjust to a green economy, where everything we produce can be recycled. At the same time, politicians have to have the courage to raise taxes on petrol and aviation fuel.

He points out that climate change brings about a lot of problems. What is the use of having hospitals and schools in a poor country if the earth is dried out and you cannot live off it? And if even a small part of the earth’s surface becomes uninhabitable for people, then large numbers of refugees, conflicts and a decrease in prosperity will be a reality.

He encourages politicians to take responsibility for the climate. “You can’t negotiate with melting glaciers or growing oceans. Politicians have no choice.”

Influencing politicians

An award that focuses on all those people around the world fighting to solve society’s problems is just a small part of the struggle for a better world. This is why Jakob von Uexkull has also established the World Future Council, WFC, an organization that has been working globally since 2007.

The WFC’s aim is to influence decision-makers to strive for a healthy planet where future generations will be able to prosper. The core of the WFC consists of a council of 50 people like human rights campaigners and environment and political activists. Several council members are also winners of the Right Livelihood Award.

Actions that the WFC takes include influencing countries like Germany and the United Kingdom to give tax reductions (feed-in tariffs) to citizens who use solar energy, for example.

“It’s difficult to create something positive and to change if society supports the opposite. We have to get politicians involved to strengthen the laws and regulations,” Jakob states.

Grassroots can create change

Jakob von Uexkull reminds us that it is not only politicians or winners of fine prizes who can change the world. Every individual has the potential to do so. It is at the grassroots level that real change can start. He singles out the fall of the Berlin Wall, which no one foresaw just a few years earlier.

“Every person can start working for change at a local level and let their voice be heard. It isn’t only our democratic right but also our responsibility and the very cornerstone in a democracy,” states Jakob firmly.

His own motivation is clear. “I know just how many people risk so much more than I do to make their solutions a reality. That motivates me to continue with my work.”

The Right Livelihood Award The Right Livelihood Award was established in 1980 and is managed by a foundation with headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Anyone can nominate a candidate for the award. The aim of the award is to honour and support ‘those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today’. The award is presented in December every year to four individuals or organizations. They share the prize money that is given to support their current projects. The prize money for each Laureate is 50,000 (2012) but not all Laureates receive a cash award. Often an Honorary Award is given to a person or group whose work the Jury wishes to recognise but who is not primarily in need of monetary support. The prize money is for ongoing successful work, never for personal use. Private donors finance the award.

Jakob von Uexkull Born: 1944 in Uppsala, Sweden. Lives: In London with his family Background: Studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford. Member of the European Parliament for the German Green Party during the 1980s. Founder of the Right Livelihood Award in 1980 and the World Future Council in 2007. Active in the environment movement and as a lecturer. A stamp collector who has written about the early postal history in Saudi Arabia, among other things.