Gro Harlem Brundtland was awarded the City of Göteborg International Environment Prize in 2002. She received it for her dedicated work for sustainable development. Between 1998 and 2003 Brundtland was Director of the World Health Organization, WHO.

Photo: WHO

Gro Harlem Brundtland is a well known international politician. In the 80’s she was Chairman of the UN Conference on Environment and Development. With its report Our Common Future, the so called Brundtland Report, the conference laid the foundation for, among other things, the Rio Conference, Agenda 21 and thereby also the follow-up meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2002.

The Jury’s motivation for awarding Brundtland the prize was in recognition of ”her contribution and personal commitment to the work towards a sustainable development on a local as well as global level and her visionary and innovative work during the 80’s as head of the UN Commission on Environment and Development … that laid the foundation for the innovative work on Agenda 21."

Worldwide development

Many positive changes have taken place since the Rio Conference ten years ago. There are many successful examples like lower infant mortality rates and less poverty. However, the picture is not as positive when seen from a global perspective over the last decade.

”If you look at it on a global level you’ll unfortunately find that the development has gone the wrong way. Some of these successful examples have been neutralised,” says Stefan Edman.

“We have to give it time and have patience,” says Lotta Göthe, Environmental Manager of Elanders AB and one of the jury members. ”We take one step at a time towards a sustainable development. It will take a very long time and we have to have patience. We need to see the big picture in a whole new way.”