THIRD CYCLE (2003 - 2005)

Category I: Global leadership in environment and sustainable development

Awarded to MR. KOFI ANNAN, Secretary General of the United Nations

Mr. Kofi Annan has done more than most to catalyze political and public opinion to an understanding that the environment is a fundamental pillar of sustainable development. They note the various reports, requested by the UN Secretary-General in the run up to the 2005 World Summit in New York including “A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility” and “In Larger Freedom”.

The Zayed jury also noted the personal leadership of the Secretary-General at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 in South Africa that addressed the Water, Energy, Health, Agriculture and Bio diversity (WEHAB) themes.

Five years ago, recognizing the potential threat that environmental degradation posed for people around the world, Mr Annan also called for the first-ever international scientific assessment of the health of the world’s ecosystems. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment reported in 2005, again in the run up to last September’s World Summit.

Mr Annan has emphasized the importance of the multilateral system in all facets of his work, convinced that global environmental challenges require global cooperation.

Category II: Scientific/ technological achievements in environment

Awarded to the MILLENNIUM ECOSYSTEM ASSESSMENT

The work of 1,360 experts from 95 countries, the assessment is a landmark study on the condition of the world’s ecosystem services from fisheries and freshwaters up to the carbon capture of the world’s forests. It also underlines the economic importance of natural or nature’s capital and demonstrates that the degradation of ecosystems is progressing at an alarming and unsustainable rate. Indeed it estimates that 60 per cent of the ecosystem services that support all life on Earth are being degraded or used unsustainably.

The assessment concludes these declines are fast becoming barriers to fighting poverty and meeting the Millennium Development Goals while triggering worrying new threats including the spread of old diseases like malaria and cholera and the risk of new ones emerging. The Assessment, and its numerous spin off reports published throughout 2005, is not just a wake up call to world leaders. It also offers forward looking proposals on how to reverse degradation of ecosystems and the services they provide.

In a statement, released in March 2005 and entitled “Living Beyond our Means: Natural Assets and Human Well-being”, the assessment’s 45-person board said: “The over-riding conclusion …is that it lies within the power of human societies to ease the strains we are putting on the nature services of the planet”.

“Achieving this however will require radical changes in the way nature is treated at every level of decision-making and new ways of cooperation between government, business and civil society,” it added.

In the opinion of the Zayed Prize International Jury, the Assessment is a remarkable scientific achievement. It is also one that is commanding political attention while shaping the environmental agenda of the 21st century, especially in the challenging area of ensuring nature’s capital is given real value alongside financial and human capital.

Category III: Environmental action leading to positive change in society

Awarded to two highly recognized activists and experts.

(1) MRS. ANGELA CROPPER (Trinidad & Tobago)

Mrs. Cropper’s visionary leadership and selfless public service were recognized by the Jury to have catalyzed numerous activities for equity, peace and sustainable development at both international and local levels.

As co-founder and President of The Cropper Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization committed to sustainable development, Mrs. Cropper has inspired activities in public policy, environmental education, and social justice within her own country of Trinidad and Tobago, and throughout the Caribbean Region.

Mrs. Cropper started her professional career as an economist, but her talents for promoting the integration of environment and development and the equitable use of natural resources have involved her in many high level processes at the cutting edge of sustainable development.

As head of Governance in IUCN – The World Conservation Union, she developed a strategic plan which sought to integrate its conservation and development components.

As interim Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, she helped establish the Secretariat and organized the early stages of this important Convention enshrining respect for both people and nature.

Under her guidance as senior Advisor on Environment and Development to the United Nations Development Program at its Headquarters, she assisted UNDP to bring environmental issues more fully into its development portfolio

Mrs. Cropper also co-chaired the Assessment Panel of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, and also led two sub-global assessments on the Northern Range in Trinidad and the Caribbean Sea. She continues to disseminate the findings and represent the MA in many events.

Among many of her special interests is sustainable forest management. She is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of CIFOR (Centre of International Forestry Research), and was a member of the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development, and Editor of the Commission’s Report. She has recently been appointed a McClusky Fellow, and will join the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in Spring 2006.

(2) PROFESSOR EMIL SALEM (Indonesia)

Professor Emil Salim has had a distinguished career in public service as Minister of State for Administrative Reform, Vice Chairman of the National Planning Board, Minister of Transportation, Communication and Tourism, Minister of State for Development Supervision and the Environment, and Minister of State for Population and the Environment.
As Indonesia's First Minister of Environment, he inspired many new conservation initiatives in Indonesia, and helped to ensure that the environment was incorporated in development decisions.
He earned his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, in Economics. He has been a Professor of Economics at the University of Indonesia since 1972 and a lecturer at the Army Command Staff School from 1966 to the present, influencing hundreds of Indonesians who have gone on to high leadership positions. He has served as a member of the People's Consultative Assembly from 1966, helping to influence public policy.
In addition to his public service at the national level, he served as President of the UNEP Governing Council from 1985 to 1987, and as Co-Chair of the World Commission on Environment and Development (1984-1987). In the latter post, he helped to write the influential report, "Our Common Future".
He chaired the Preparatory Committee for the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, which was the leading environmental event of this century. His international diplomacy helped to guide delicate international negotiations to a successful conclusion.
He was appointed by the World Bank to lead its Extractive Industries Review, which involved a long process of public consultation with a wide range of stakeholders affected by extractive industries. His final report details the problems of extractive industries and how they might best be addressed.
Other significant contributions he has made to the environment include Board membership of the International Institute on Environment and Development and the Stockholm Environment Institute. He also served as a member of the World Health Organization's Health and Environment Commission, and as a member of the UN High Level Advisory Board on Sustainable Development.

Professor Salim has shown by his actions how solid science and Effective negotiating skills can lead to positive change in the environment. The entire concept of sustainable development was given significant impetus through his work on the World Commission on Environment and Development, and his driving the agenda of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development helped to define the development agenda for the early 21st century.

His many achievements well justify his receiving the Zayed International Prize for the Environment.