The Nordic Council Nature and Environment Prize

The prize is awarded to a Nordic enterprise, organisation or individual, which has managed in an exemplary way to integrate consideration for nature and the environment into their business or work, or which, in some other way, has made an extraordinary effort for nature and the environment.

Did you know that one third of the food produced in the world ends up as waste? The winner of this year's Nature and Environment Prize, Danish Selina Juul, is the founder of the consumer movement Stop Wasting Food - Denmark's largest voluntary movement against food waste. “Her efforts cannot be overestimated”, says the Nordic Council in its motivation.

The Nature and Environment Prize 2013 will be awarded to a Nordic company, organisation or individual who has developed a product, an invention or in some other creative way has increased resource efficiency and thereby contributed to reducing human beings' ecological footprint in nature.

Selina Juul's commitment has put food waste on the agenda not only in her home country Denmark, but also in the rest of the Nordic Region, the EU and the UN. Juul works unpaid as a voluntary spokeswoman for the movement she took initiative to set up in 2008.

“Selina Juul's persistent focus on food waste - in collaboration with other interested parties - has led to a reduction of food waste in Denmark. With her creativity, enthusiasm and hard work, she has contributed to reducing human beings' ecological footprint in nature”, says the Adjudication Committee in its motivation.

Food waste also has an ethical dimension; one billion of the world's population are starving in a world where 1.3 billion tons of food are thrown out every year.