The 2007 Gothenburg Award of Sustainable Development, 1 million SEK (corresponding to 144,000 USD), is awarded to MR. AL GORE for his relentless commitment to put an end to the climate crisis by increasing public awareness about global warming.

Mr. Gore’s now famous educational slide-show lectures given all over the world, his prize-winning documentary film ”An Inconvenient Truth”, his books, the rock concerts he has initiated to engage young people and how he has used his position as former Vice President of the Unites States are all examples of his inspiring, highly innovative and informal style of leadership. His basic view is that everyone, regardless of who and where we are, can personally contribute to the climate campaign. He has also started a long-term trainee program for people dedicated to spreading the message.

Mr. Gore’s concern for the environment started early and he held the very first hearing on global warming in the U.S. Congress back in the late 1970’s. Since then he has traveled extensively in his pursuit of facts.  

He has pushed for more stringent legislation and international agreements to reduce emissions and he has worked to promote more sustainable technologies and lifestyles. His bestseller, ”Earth in the Balance”, was published 1992, in connection with the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, where Al Gore played a prominent role.

Mr. Gore has been extremely successful in combining scientific facts, human perspectives and courageous political strategies with an infectious optimism to show us what we can and must do to avoid our planet’s current rendezvous with catastrophe. Through his belief in mankind and in the common sense in all of us he has become a guru and crusader, giving millions of people hope for the future.