On February 6th, the internationally renowned Dan David Prize announced Christiana Figueres as the winner of the US $1 million award for her achievements in combating climate change.
Figueres, a Costa Rican citizen, is a dedicated diplomat, speaker and author in the field of climate change. She was the Executive Secretary for the United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from 2010-2016. Her leadership at UNFCCC led to the historic Paris Agreement of 2015, in which 195 sovereign nations signed a legally binding commitment to limit future temperature increases. Figueres is also a founder of Global Optimism.
“It is with utter surprise and deep gratitude that I join an illustrious group of Dan David Prize laureates doing committed work to better understand the lessons of our past, to enrich the experience of our present, and to more intentionally shape our future,” Figueres responded to winning the award.
The Dan David Prize’s unique approach utilizes a “roving” formula that rewards achievements in all fields of human endeavor, rather than fixed categories. Every year, the Dan David Foundation awards three prizes of US $1 million to outstanding figures and organizations whose efforts have made significant humanistic, scientific and technological contributions. Three unique categories are selected annually to celebrate remarkable achievements that represent the past, present and future.
According to Ariel David, Dan David board member and son of the founder, “Christiana Figueres was awarded the prize in the category of “Future” for her leadership in putting together the Paris Agreements to mitigate climate change. Figueres has shown that it is possible to break through our differences and bring together the entire world to face the challenge of climate change, likely the worst threat to humanity’s future that we have ever seen.”
The Dan David Prize is named after the late Dan David, an international businessman and philanthropist whose vision was to reward those who have made a lasting impact on society and to help young students and entrepreneurs become the scholars and leaders of the future.
Along with the award for Combating Climate Change, the 2019 Dan David Prize also recognizes remarkable work by Professors Kenneth Pomeranz and Sanjay Subrahmanyam in Macro History, as well as Reporters Without Borders and Author and Professor Michael Ignatieff in Defending Democracy.
The total purse of US $3 million not only makes the Dan David Prize one of the most prestigious, but also one of the highest-value prizes internationally. Other notable Dan David Prize Laureates include Yo-Yo Ma (2006), Professor Robert Gallo, co-discoverer of the AIDS virus (2009), novelist Margaret Atwood (2010), filmmaker brothers Ethan and Joel Coen (2011); and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales (2015).
Figueres, along with the four additional Prize Laureates, will be honored at the 2019 Dan David Prize Award Ceremony, to be held in Tel Aviv in May 2019.
