Robert Costanza Awarded Blue Planet Prize

Professor Robert Costanza (UCL Institute for Global Prosperity) has been awarded the prestigious Blue Planet Prize for his work studying the economic importance of intact natural ecosystems on society.

Professor Costanza said: “I’m honoured to receive this award for my work. Over the years I have sought to explore how much humanity relies on the services of natural ecosystems and demonstrate the fundamental importance of protecting the Earth’s ecosystems. I hope that this award helps to highlight the importance of combatting climate change and biodiversity loss together. Doing so can lead to an economy that is focused on inclusive and sustainable wellbeing for the whole system – humans embedded in the rest of nature.”

Established in 1992 by the Asahi Glass Foundation in Japan, the aim of the Blue Planet Prize is to encourage efforts to conserve and restore Earth’s fragile environment. The award’s name was inspired by the first person in space, Yuri Gagarin, who remarked “the Earth is blue” when he first saw the planet from orbit.

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