Former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland has been named the winner of the first Tang Prize in Sustainable Development. That’s the word from the Tang Prize Foundation on Wednesday.
The Tang Prize, dubbed the “Asian Nobel Prize”, was established in 2012 by Taiwanese entrepreneur Samuel Yin to honor leaders in four fields: sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, sinology, and rule of law.
Brundtland coined the term “sustainable development” and put sustainability on the international political agenda. She defined “sustainable development” as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
Brundtland currently serves as deputy chair of The Elders, a group of world leaders brought together in 2007 by late South African president Nelson Mandela to work for peace and human rights and find solutions for global crises such as climate change and the AIDS pandemic.
Winners of the other three categories of the Tang Prize will be announced later this week.