Nominations for the Nordic Council Environment Prize 2022

01.09.22 | News
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Johnér

The theme for the Nordic Council Environment Prize 2022 is “Nature-based solutions – a versatile response to the major environmental challenges facing society”.

Planting eelgrass in Denmark, restoring drained wetlands in Iceland, Sweden’s oldest existing UNESCO biosphere reserve and a voluntary association that restores rivers and streams in Finland. Six projects have been nominated for the Environment Prize 2022 for the theme is nature-based solutions.

Nature is a fundamental prerequisite for all human activity. Our forests, open landscapes, parks, gardens and other ecosystems are all interlinked with global warming, energy supply, water supply, food production, urban planning and health. Although debates about the environment have often seen protecting, preserving and enhancing nature as challenges with a social or economic downside, this does not have to be the case. Nature-based solutions not only support the environment and biodiversity but they can also be planned in ways that generate social, cultural and economic value. Hence the theme for the Environment Prize 2022, the nominations for which were announced at a seminar on nature-based solutions in the Nordic House in the Faroe Islands (NLH). 

Six nominations

The nominations for the Nordic Council Environment Prize 2022 are:

Winner to be announced in November


The winner of the Nordic Council Environment Prize 2022 will be announced on 1 November in Helsinki during the Session of the Nordic Council. The winner will receive the Nordlys statuette and DKK 300,000.

About the theme

The theme for 2022 is “Nature-based solutions – a versatile response to the major environmental challenges facing society”. The point is to draw attention to the fact that nature and how we manage it can help provide versatile solutions to biodiversity loss and the climate crisis, facilitate effective climate adaptation measures in urban environments and enhance human health and well-being.

Nature-based solutions support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 14 about life below water and 15 about life on land. They also help promote progress towards (3) good health and well-being, (6) clean water and sanitation, (9) industry, innovation and infrastructure, (11) sustainable cities and communities and (13) climate action.

Nature-based solutions is one of the priorities stipulated in the Nordic Council of Ministers’ vision for a green Nordic Region.

About the Nordic Council Environment Prize

The Nordic Council Environment Prize was first awarded in 1995 with the aim of raising awareness of work on the environment in the Nordic Region. Anyone can submit nominations. The prize goes to a company, organisation or individual in recognition of exemplary efforts to integrate consideration for the environment into their business or work, or for some other form of extraordinary environmental initiative. The winner receives DKK 300,000.

The Nordic Council Environment Prize 2022 will go to a company, organisation or individual for exemplary work that promotes biodiversity, addresses climate change and involves nature-based solutions.