Balzan announces winners for scholarly and scientific achievements on climate issues
Balzan award focuses on climate issues, which recognizes scholarly and scientific achievements and has cash prize of CHF 750,000 (approx. EUR 695,000).
- World News
- 2 min read

On September 14, The 2020 Balzan Prize winners' names were announced to be conferred with cash CHF 750,000 (approx. EUR 695,000; USD 830,000) by the President of the Italian Republic during the awards ceremony to be held in Rome on 19 November 2020. The Balzan’s award focuses on climate issues, which recognizes scholarly and scientific achievements according to an official press release. The prize for Earth System Dynamics was given to Susan Trumbore, for her outstanding contributions to the study of the carbon cycle and its effects on climate. Jean-Marie Tarascon received an award for his exceptional contributions to Renewable Energy. Joan Martinez Alier, the third awardee was honoured for ecological economics, while the prize for Human Rights was given to Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade.
Nathalie Heinich is introducing the profile of the prizewinner for Envinonmental Challenges: Responses from the Social Sciences and the Humanities Joan Martinez Alier#BalzanPrize @UABBarcelona pic.twitter.com/kREzOawSCc
— BalzanPrize (@BalzanPrize) September 14, 2020
“This year the Balzan Prize has fully achieved one of its fundamental aims of integrating the most promising scholarship and research on today’s most relevant issues in an interdisciplinary perspective,” Chairman of the General Prize Committee, Luciano Maiani said.
He added that the prize winners had not only portrayed the depth of their insights and research but they “also looked towards the future while working on problems that humanity faces today.” The Balzan awards four Balzan Prizes to the prestigious scholars and scientists worldwide, who hold distinguished work in their respective fields on an international level. The subject areas for the prose changes annually which are listed in the Articles of the Balzan Foundation.
The subject areas for the 2021 #BalzanPrize will be "Holocaust and Genocide Studies, "Art and Archaeology of the Ancient Near East", "Microbiome in Health and Disease", "Gravitation: Physical and Astrophysical Aspects" pic.twitter.com/TcSAm5KzYO
— BalzanPrize (@BalzanPrize) September 14, 2020
Today is the day! The 2020 Balzan Prizewinners will be officially announced in #Milan at 6pm (CEST/UTC+2). Don't miss the live streaming on https://t.co/znsGaNhpYB and https://t.co/I9caCNXDcO and follow the #livetweeting#BalzanPrize
— BalzanPrize (@BalzanPrize) September 14, 2020
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Susan, a US citizen is the director of the Max Planck Institut for Biogeochemistry in Jena, Germany, and a professor of Earth Science System at the University of California, Irvine who has pioneered the use of radiocarbon measurements. While a professor of the College de France, Jean-Marie Tarascon, was particularly recognized for her contribution in helping speed the development of lithium-ion batteries for electric cars.
#RT @cdf1530: RT @BalzanPrize: Jean-Marie Tarascon is the 2020 Balzan Prizewinner for Envinonmental Challenges: Materials Science for Renewable Energy #BalzanPrize @upjv pic.twitter.com/wwtM9fqBRO
— Mikael Monjour (@MikaelMonjour) September 15, 2020
International Court of Justice judge awarded
A professor and a senior researcher at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Joan Martinez Alier, is renowned for his “path-breaking analysis of the economies and the environment.” Meanwhile, the Brazilian judge at the International Court of Justice Antonio Augusto Cancado Trindade was honoured for his global judicial order based on the principle that all of humanity must constitute the subject of an international legal system.
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Just announced by Luciano Maiani @BalzanPrize : #BalzanPrice2020 for human rights - CHF 750’000 - goes to Antonio Augusto Cançado Trinidade for fundamental theoretical and jurisprudential contrubutions to the definition of a global juridical order @CIJ_ICJ @IACourtHR pic.twitter.com/gXsH7lytHs
— Claudia Appenzeller (@c_appenzeller) September 14, 2020