Since 1901 Nobel Prizes have been awarded in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace. In 1968 a sixth prize for the field of economic sciences was added, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2025. Ecosia are now calling for the addition of a Nobel Prize in Climate and Planetary Health.
Ecosia is backing up their campaign with the offer of a €1,000,000 endowment, stating ‘when Alfred Nobel established the Nobel Prizes in 1895, his vision was to reward those whose work gave ’the greatest benefit to humankind.’ For more than a century, these awards have rightly honoured ground-breaking achievements. Now is the time to continue this legacy with a prize for the defining challenge of the 21st century. The climate crisis is humankind’s greatest challenge. We call for a new Nobel Prize to honour those leading the way forward and we begin by endowing the first award with €1,000,000’.
Ecosia (derived from "eco" and "utopia"[3]) is a non-profit tech organisation based in Berlin, Germany. It runs its namesake internet search engine, which launched on 7 December 2009 to coincide with UN climate talks in Copenhagen.[4] More recently the organisation has launched additional products such as a namesake web browser.
The organisation claims to be the largest European search engine and the planet’s biggest tree-planting movement, responsible for the planting of 240,000,000 trees. They dedicate their profits to climate action and have raised €97,000,000 for climate action.