Blue Planet Prize Story

In a groundbreaking 1997 paper, Professor Costanza and colleagues demonstrated, for the first time, that the ecosystem services provided by nature to humans far exceed the economic value of the world's GDP at that time. This work brought global attention to the previously understated importance of ecosystem services. As a co-founder of ecological economics, a new field of study that recognizes that the economy is embedded in society and a finite biosphere, Professor Costanza actively advocates for an ecologically sustainable, wellbeing society.
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IPBES is the leading global authority on the state of knowledge and science about biodiversity, ecosystem services and nature's contributions to people. Their landmark Reports facilitate better science-informed policy and action across scales, sectors, and knowledge systems. As growing numbers of companies also start to evaluate, disclose and improve their impact on the environment, businesses are also using the IPBES Reports to help shape their corporate sustainability strategies and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) activities.
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Tiny Threats in the Oceans
The discovery of microplastics in the ocean and the revelation that marine organisms, including zooplankton, are ingesting them have brought this issue to the attention of the international community.

Learn from past disasters to develop future disaster control systems
The creation of the first database on major global disasters, "EM-DAT (Emergency Events Database)," has contributed to disaster prevention and mitigation efforts around the world.

Prioritizing the Happiness of the Bhutanese People
His Majesty introduced the development philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH), which places people's well-being at the heart of development activities and programmes.

Lake Ecosystems
Professor Stephen Carpenter studied the resilience of lakes, providing a new perspective on social-ecological systems. From a broad geochemical viewpoint, he highlighted environmental pollution from phosphorus, attributable to land use.

Cause of Global Warming besides CO₂
Professor Veerabhadran Ramanathan discovered that short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) have great impact on global warming. He later took the initiative in global action to reduce SLCPs.

Harmonizing Economy, Environment, and Society
Professor Mohan Munasinghe has been doing practical research and development in environmental economics by applying his sustainomics framework, which views development issues from environmental, social, and economic perspectives.

Healthy Foods Are Also Good for the Environment
He has studied health and environmental impacts of agriculture and of dietary choices and demonstrated that foods which are beneficial to human health are also good for the environment. He has advocated shifts towards diets and agricultural practices that are better for human health and the global environment.

Development of the Wildlife Conservation Framework and Practices
He made a great contribution to improving scientific reliability of the Red List for threatened species. He has worked hard to conserve wildlife including raising the alarm that amphibians’ habitats are deteriorating.

Prof. Lambin has clarified the land use changes taking place on a global scale, the effects on ecosystems, and the relationship between human economic activities and land use, using satellite remote sensing technologies and his original method. His research findings have contributed to the worldwide promotion of forest conservation and sustainable land use.

Through his trilogy, Guns, Germs, and Steel, Collapse, and The World Until Yesterday, Prof. Diamond provided deep insight into the roots of today's environmental problems. He has influenced many people regardless of age or nationality to consider the next steps for civilization.

Resilience - the ability to respond to changes
Professor Walker has studied resilience, the ability to respond to any changes nature has and advocated the need to increase the resilience so that the entire natural and social system facing unexpected changes can survive.

Water is bloodstream on the Earth.
Professor Falkenmark noticed through her decades-long research that poverty in developing countries was deeply related to water issues and has contributed greatly to the solution of water issues by developing an indicator to show the degrees of water shortages and advocating the use of invisible water called "Green Water."

Solving problems before they become irreparable
With the Earth System Analysis Prof. Schellnhuber has predicted adverse effects of the global warming to our lives. He has also reiterated the importance of the creation and implementation of international measures against global climate change with scientific evidence and has contributed to the international community's target of limiting global warming by 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius.

Nature around Us
To achieve a right balance between conservation of environment and prosperity of human society, Prof. Daily has contributed to the creation of a conceptual framework called Countryside Biogeography, which focuses on an ecosystem where human presence and activities strongly influence living and non-living ecosystem components. She has also made significant efforts to realize a sustainable society by incorporating the valuation of ecosystem services into policy measures and economic activities.

Nature is not free!
Mr. Shukhdev has devoted himself to the promotion of a system of environmental accounting, a system, in which puts a price on nature, and thus helps to understand the value of nature. In addition, he has proposed concrete steps to realize sustainable use of natural resources through the introduction of environmental accounting intro governmental and corporate actions.

Africa, animals, and people
Professor Borner worked at Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, Africa to protect endangered wildlife and protected-area ecosystem over the past 40 years. He also insisted the importance of comprehensive and coordinated efforts for the conservation of entire ecosystems, which requires the contributions and commitment of people to the conservation of their ecosystem.

What is Real Wealth?
Professor Dasgupta clarified impacts of the natural environment on human well-being in his research in economics, and found a strong correlation between poverty and the depletion of natural resources. In addition, Professor Dasgupta developed the inclusive wealth index (IWI) measuring national wealth in order to evaluate the progress of sustainable development. Findings from measurement with the IWI drew significant attention around the world.

We Can Eliminate Poverty!
Professor Sachs has contributed to solving the extreme poverty in the world with a unique approach called “Clinical Economics.” He proposed concrete measures, which can help solve global issues and realize a fair, sustainable world.

Does economic growth make people happier?
Prof. Daly incorporated the environment, local communities, and ethics into economic theory and built a base of sustainable society.

Prof. Janzen and INBio presented role models, providing invaluable wisdom to both advanced and developing countries through activities such as sustainable development initiatives and policy recommendations.

Dr. Matsuno has made a major contribution to international awareness of global warming and climate change. His paper, "Quasi-Geostrophic Motions in the Equatorial Area," which helped to explain the El Niño phenomenon and to elucidate climate change, is just one of many research accomplishments

Prof. Sperling is recognized internationally as a leading expert on transportation, technology, fuels assessment, and policy, with a focus on energy and the environment. He has devoted his career to mitigating climate change and accelerating the global transition to cleaner, more efficient transportation and energy.

Developing and advancing the Ecological Footprint, a comprehensive accounting system for comparing human demand on ecosystems to ecosystems' capacity to self-renew. Their approach measures human carrying capacity and helps assess the risks of overconsumption to planetary stability.

Becoming the first person to clarify human caused habitat fragmentation damaged biodiversity and gave rise to environmental crisis. Since then, he has been influencing the world for environmental conservation.

For substantial contributions to the understanding of biodiversity and marine ecology and clear demonstration to the world of the importance of the social responsibility of scientists.

Having supported rural villagers in underdeveloped nations and created a model for autonomous regional social development through unique educational programs that emphasize traditional ideas and self-respect.

Having predicted global warming in the early stage and warned that it would very probably cause destructive results for life on Earth, he called on the governments and the public to take immediate action to reduce and mitigate the impact of climate change.

Having organized the famous scientific project to derive scientific evidence of the depletion of the Ozone Layer, he eventually endorsed the Montreal Protocol. Later as Chair of IPCC, he played a significant role in coordinating and bridging science and policy for protecting the world environment.

As a theoretical framework for confronting environmental issues such as global warming, he has advocated the concept of Social Common Capital, which contributed to pioneering and highly original achievements from a very early stage.

Having reported the economic and social impact of and actions against climate change in The Economics of Climate Change with the approach of using cutting edge natural sciences and economics, he provided a clear cut polisy regarding the global warming, which has had a major impact on the world.

For his contribution in disclosing past climate change based on polar ice sheet core analysis and in discovering the relation between climate change during glacial and interglacial periods and atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, indicating its current unprecedentedly high level and warning a consequent global warming

For making major contributions in formulating and implementing many policies associated with improvements on energy use and conservation, in devising a pioneering concept of "technological leapfrogging" for the developing countries for their sustainable development and in exhibiting strong leadership in preparation for the 1992 Rio Earth Summit

For drafting the world’s first modern environmental law based on public trust doctrine supporting citizen action for protection of the environment, and for his pioneering contributions in development of the theory of environmental protection law and in establishing environmental laws internationally

For his contributions to leading global energy strategy for protection of the global environment by efficient utilization of energy through his advocacy of the concept of the "soft energy path" and invention of the Hypercar

For establishing a theory to restore and to reconstruct forests based on the concept of "Potential natural vegetation" and by implementing the theory succeeded in reconstructing disaster-preventing environment-conserving forests and tropical forests, contributed in restoring the green on earth

For contributing in establishing the concept of sustainable development and furthering global environmental policies through various United Nations' committees especially as the chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the World Summit on Sustainable Development

For contributions to palaeoclimatology, particularly in identifying the glacial - interglacial climatic cycles and identifying the role of carbon dioxide as well as changes in the Earth's orbit in causing them; this aids us in better predicting future climate change

For developing a new mangrove planting technology in Eritrea and through its utilization thus showing the possibility of building a sustainable local community in the poorest area of the world

For pioneering work in identifying the mechanism that produces the Antarctic ozone hole and momentous contributions towards the protection of the ozone layer

For putting forward globally the innovative concept of sustainable development, an idea that aims to balance environmental conservation with economic growth

For pioneering an approach that has become a model for the scientific world, and for the comprehensive understanding of ecosystems through long-term measurement of the flows of water and chemical substances in watersheds.

For investigating the war-damaged forests of Vietnam and for the dedication to its restoration and conservation, as well as for the development of environmental laws and the contributions to the conservation of wildlife.

For pioneering work in the field of plant physiological ecology, for providing objective measures of how plant ecologies are influenced by their environments, and for his conservation efforts.

For a lifetime of creative and visionary ledarship in the search for science-based solutions to global environmental problems and for pioneering efforts to bring these issues, including global climate change, to broad international attention.

For developing mathematical ecology, the means to predict changes in animal populations that serves as a fundamental tool for ecological conservation planning.

For ongoing leadership in warning about new environmental problems, such as the mass extinction of species, and stating the criteria for a society that attaches importance to environmental conservation

For systematic research revealing the risk that "endocrine disruptors" pose to humans and wildlife and for warning about the threat of these synthetic chemicals

For scientifically formulating the principles and theoretical framework required to establish a sustainable society and for enhancing the environmental awareness of business, municipalities and others

For co-funding the new science of conservation biology, for co-authoring the theory of co-evolution and for promoting environmental conservation by warning of a population explosion

For establishing the legal framework for environmental protection in China based on scientific research and for his conservation efforts throughout that vast country

For founding the field of physical climatology, the quantitative analysis of climate change, and making early predictions of global warming

For pioneering in environmental activism, educating the general public about the science of environmental conservation and setting an important precedent of international environmental non-profit organizations

For Pioneering the detection and measurement of trace substances in the atmosphere in addition to formulating the Gaia Hypothesis of earth science, which has helped stimulate interest in the environment

For Protecting the earth's biological diversity through research into ways to conserve ecosystems while improving the lives of local people

For the discovery of the global ocean current known as the "great conveyor belt"and other pioneering research into global ocean currents, ocean chemical cycles, especially the carbon cycle, and the ocean's influence on global climate changes

For leading the way toward the realization of sustainable agriculture and rural development through research into soil improvement and genetic engineering of plant species and the application of these findings

For pioneering research into the carbon cycle, which affects the oceans, the atmosphere,and ecosystems, and major contributions to worldwide climate policy formation

For international leadership in conceptualizing sustainable development and forming global-scale implementation strategies based on findings of scientific research into environmental problems

Major contributions to the understanding of global environmental problems through research in the field of marine geology, including the analysis of ocean sediments, the study of the exchange of carbon dioxide between the oceans and the atmosphere, and predictions of regional desertification

Formulation of solutions to global environmental problems based on scientific analysis and contributions to international awareness of food shortages, sustainable energy resources, and the need for an "environmental revolution"

Many years of research into atmospheric and oceanic carbon dioxide levels and their precise measurement and analysis, yielding a vast body of data on global warming

Outstanding research and the application of scientific strategies to the conservation of natural resources and the promotion of biological diversity on an international scale

Pioneering research for predicting climate change by numerical models and quantifying the effects of greenhouse gases

Pioneering scientific research and implementation activities for the realization of sustainable development in a wide range of fields, including agriculture, energy and urban planning