UNEP Sasakawa Environment Prize

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has announced that the 1999 UNEP Sasakawa Environment Prize has been awarded to scientist and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Professor Mario J. Molina for his outstanding global contributions in the field of atmospheric chemistry.

The prize, worth US$200,000 and considered one of the most prestigious environmental awards in the world, will be presented at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 17 November 1999. "The prize has been awarded to Professor Molina for his pioneering investigations on the chemistry of the ozone layer, which have led to a better scientific understanding of the effect of human activities on the atmosphere" said Lord Stanley Clinton-Davis, Chairman of the Selection Committee. "The confidence with which many aspects of the science of ozone destruction is now understood comes directly from Professor Molina's work," he added.

Professor Molina and his colleagues discovered a previously unknown reaction whereby chlorine is activated on the surface of ice cloud particles in the polar atmosphere. Professor Molina also demonstrated a new reaction sequence involving chlorine peroxide, which accounts for most of the ozone destruction in the Antarctic.

"Professor Molina's leadership greatly contributed to making the UNEP-brokered Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer a reality. The speed with which countries ratified this precedent-setting international agreement was due in great part to the role he played in communicating to policy-makers, the media and ultimately the general public, the implications of his research," said UNEP's Executive Director, Klaus Toepfer.

For his work, Professor Molina was awarded in 1995 the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Professors F. Sherwood Rowland and Paul Crutzen. He donated two-thirds of his prize money to set up fellowships to help scientists from developing countries conduct research in environmental sciences at MIT. Today, Professor Molina continues his research on stratospheric chemistry and tropospheric pollution including pollution problems of rapidly growing cities. "This recognition by UNEP represents for me a culmination of my efforts on the protection of the global environment," said Professor Molina. "I appreciate the support I have received from the world community over the years and I hope to continue my commitment to work for the benefit of humanity and the environment," he said.

At the award ceremony in New York, H.E. Andres Pastrana Arango, the current President of Colombia, will launch the Pastrana Borrero Lecture which has been established by UNEP to honour the late chairman of the Sasakawa Environment Prize Selection Committee and former President of Colombia, H.E. Misael Pastrana Borrero.

Past winners include:
+ Chico Mendes, the rubber tapper from Brazil who died leading the fight against cattle ranchers' destruction of the rainforest;
+ Lester Brown, Director of the World Watch Institute, whose writings were instrumental in alerting the world about the threats to the biosphere;
+ Dr. M. S. Swaminathan of India, father of the economic ecology movement,
+ and Ian Kiernan of Australia, founder of the Clean Up the World Campaign.