Dec 3, 2009, 11:16 GMT
Stockholm - A Canadian activist who has raised awareness about climate change Thursday expressed fears of a weak deal at the upcoming UN climate change conference in Copenhagen.
'We are going to see countries going in (to the talks) and their highest priority is their own country and their own economies,' David Suzuki told the German Press Agency dpa.
Suzuki was one of one of four co-winners of the 2009 Right Livelihood Award, the so-called 'Alternative Nobel.'
He was also critical of Canada's current government's track record on climate issues, saying he feared Ottawa 'would try to prevent any hard targets and time frames and enforcement mechanisms.'
'The worst possible thing would be a half-hearted agreement,' he said, saying it was better to work for a better deal next year.
Suzuki, a zoologist who has specialized in genetics, was to receive an honorary prize. He was cited for promoting the 'socially responsible use of science' and raising awareness about climate change, not the least as anchorman of a television programme about science.
Co-winners Alyn Ware of New Zealand, Rene Ngongo of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Australian-born physician Catherine Hamlin were each to receive 50,000 euros (73,000 dollars).
The awards, which are not connected to the Nobel Prizes endowed by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, are to be presented Friday in the Swedish parliament.
Ware was cited for his role in promoting peace work in New Zealand, and campaigning against nuclear weapons.
Ware said he supported the decision to award this year's Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama, saying the US leader 'got the ball rolling' with his vision of a world free of nuclear weapons.
Ngongo has worked to protect the rain forests of Congo against illegal logging, and issued an open letter Thursday calling for 'binding commitments' at the Copenhagen summit to 'reduce greenhouse gas emissions.'
Hamlin was unable to travel to Stockholm over medical reasons, but was cited for 50 years of work to treat complications linked to child birth in Ethiopia.
Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull created the prize in 1980, and announced a gathering of former Right Livelihood winners in September in Bonn, Germany, under the theme 'changing course, reclaiming our future.'
The awards have played a role von Uexkull said, noting for instance the creation of an International Renewable Energy Agency. The idea was floated by 1999 award winner Hermann Scheer of Germany. The agency's interim headquarters are in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates.
In all 82 candidates from 46 countries were nominated this year.
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