Is It Time For a New Nobel Prize Category?

Currently, the Nobel Prize honours people and organizations for exceptional contributions in chemistry, physics, medicine, literature, peace, and economics. Some are now calling for a seventh category to be added.

Credit: Ecosia

A group of climate activists are calling on the Nobel Foundation in Sweden to start recognising outstanding achievements in climate and planetary health. “When Alfred Nobel created the prizes, he wrote that they must serve the greatest benefit to humankind,” said Christian Kroll, CEO of tree-planting search engine Ecosia, which is leading the initiative. “Today, this means protecting the planet we all depend on.”

Nobel winners, or laureates, receive a roughly 1 million euro (about $1.17 million) endowment - an amount that Ecosia has already pledged to cover. The new category would commend those who’ve made significant gains in climate innovation, regulation, advocacy, or mitigation, says Euronews. If the bid is successful, it would be the first time the Nobel committee has added a new category since the creation of the economics science prize in 1968.

Several advocates have already pledged their support, emphasizing that the prize could incentivize more progress toward saving the planet. “An award for climate and planetary health would encourage people worldwide to build solutions, improve policy, and mobilize communities to take action,” climate activist Luisa Neubauer said in a statement. “It is long overdue for the Nobel tradition to finally recognize the greatest crisis of our time.”

Ecosia is a tree planting search engine, and describes itself as the greenest browser on Earth. Instead of taking the revenue generated by your searches, Ecosia translates its income into planting trees. Millions of them. In fact, almost 250 million of them. Perhaps it's time for us all to abandon our Google habit and switch to Ecosia.

Find out more about the proposed Climate Nobel Prize.