Prof Mohan Munasinghe named global environmental leader saving the planet

Professor Mohan Munasinghe, 2021 Blue Planet Prize Laureate and co-winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Peace, was featured on the front cover of the recently published book: Saving the Planet: The leading environmentalists. He is identified among 28 top global environmentalists who are saving the planet, including fellow Nobel Prize winners Wangari Maathai and Al Gore, the legendary Rachel Carson, Jacques Cousteau, and UK King Charles.

Featured in this magnificently illustrated book are captivating biographies of the men and women from around the world who have raised awareness about air, soil and water pollution, habitat destruction, biodiversity loss, and climate change. These scientists, economists, activists, princes, and Indigenous people have dedicated their lives to help solve the complex human-caused problems facing Earth today. To protect their territory and ultimately save the planet, some of these environmentalists have written learned reports, others produced riveting documentaries about nature, and many have founded environmental organizations. 

Prof. Munasinghe received the 2021 Blue Planet Prize (also called the ‘Environmental Nobel Prize’) and shared the 2007 Nobel Prize for Peace (as Vice Chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). A globally recognized expert, his work has contributed to key international agreements like the 1992 Agenda 21 & UNFCCC, 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and the UN 2030 Agenda & Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). He first proposed the Sustainomics transdisciplinary framework at the 1992 UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, emphasizing the importance of integrating and balancing the sustainable development triangle, including economic, social and environmental dimensions. At the Rio+20 Earth Summit in 2012, he introduced the Balanced Inclusive Green Growth (BIGG) path for both developed and developing nations, as well as the innovative Millennium Consumption Goals (MCG) concept that was included as SDG No.12.

Professor Munasinghe is Chairman of the MIND Group in Colombo, which includes the non-profit Munasinghe Institute for Development (MIND), a UN-recognized centre of excellence working globally on all aspects of sustainable development, and MIND AM focusing on data analytics and management. He is Chairman of the Board of the Climate & Conservation Consortium (CCC), and his visit to UAE coincided with the soft launch of the Dubai office of the CCC. He is also the Board Director of the Eureka Group and a Distinguished Guest Professor at Peking University, China.  He was Chairman of the President’s Expert Committee on Sustainable Sri Lanka 2030 Vision.