Nobel Peace Prize 2022: Sir David Attenborough, WHO, Pope Francis, Navalny among nominees

UK broadcaster David Attenborough, jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Pope Francis and the World Health Organisation (WHO) are some of the nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize. According to Sky News, Norwegian lawmakers revealed the nominees for the prestigious award include popular dissidents including Belarusian Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya who is living in exile in Vilnius and the Myanmar National Unity Government which was formed by opponents of last year’s coup in the country. It is to mention that Nobel Prizes are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to mankind,"  according to 1895 will of Alfred Nobel,  a Swedish chemist & engineer.

Tuvalu’s foreign minister Simon Kofe, who underscored the threat of climate change to his nation by recording a speech for the United Nations (UN) climate conference standing knee-deep in seawater, has also been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. It is to note that from lawmakers to former winners, thousands of people can propose candidates for the prize awarded by the Swedish committee. 

95-year-old Attenborough, who has risen to global fame owing to TV nature programmes, is also being backed by Norwegian lawmakers who have a track record of picking the winner of the prize, stated the report. Attenborough was jointly nominated by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which monitors the state of biodiversity worldwide for policy makers. As per Sky News, Norwegian Green Party leader, Une Bastholm said that the Nobel Peace Prize nominees were chosen for “their efforts to inform about, and protect, Earth's natural diversity, a prerequisite for sustainable and peaceful societies.”

WHO nominated for prize second year in row

Additionally, the report also stated that Pope Francis was nominated for his efforts to help tackle climate change and also for working towards peace and reconciliation. Kofe was nominated by the leader of Norway's Liberal Party, Guri Melby. WHO was nominated for the second consecutive year after being at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic. The director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, Henrik Urdal said that the organisation is “likely to be discussed in the Committee for this year's prize".

Nobel Peace Prize 2021 was awarded to Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov “for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.”  In a statement, the academy noted Ressa and Muratov’s “courageous fight for freedom of expression” in the Philippines and Russia.

(Image: AP)