Founder and Chairman
© Bonny Håkansson
Career and Life
Born in Uppsala, Sweden, Jakob von Uexkull is the son of the author and journalist Gösta von Uexkull and grandson of the biologist Jakob von Uexkull. After schooling in Sweden and Germany he graduated with an M.A. (Honours) in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Christ Church, Oxford. He holds both Swedish and German nationality.
Jakob von Uexkull is married and has three children. He lives with his family in London.
Jakob von Uexkull has been a journalist, writer, lecturer, professional philatelist and Member of the European Parliament (1987-89). As a Member of the European Parliament, he served on the Political Affairs Committee and the Science and Technology Committee. He was also a member of the Delegation for Relations with the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Baltic Intergroup.
Jakob von Uexkull is a co-founder (1984) of The Other Economic Summit (TOES) and founder of The Estonian Renaissance Award (1993). He served on the Board of Greenpeace, Germany, and the New Economics Foundation (London). He was also a member of the UNESCO Commission on Human Duties and Responsibilities.
Jakob has been honored by Time Magazine as a European Hero (2005). In 2006, he received the Binding-Prize (Liechtenstein) for the protection of nature and the environment, and, in 2008, the Erich-Fromm-Prize in Stuttgart, Germany, for his future-orientated commitment dedicated for a life in human dignity for our children and grand-children in a globalised world.
The World Future Council
In recent years, Jakob von Uexkull has concentrated on creating the World Future Council, a body of 50 globally recognised wise elders, pioneers and youth leaders. This Council will give voice to the interests of coming generations and will work for a sustainable future. Several Right Livelihood Award Recipients are involved with the initiative. The head office of the Word Future Council is located in Hamburg, Germany.
The Council will address important issues like the protection of the environment, peace, justice, human development, human rights and health by encouraging the implementation and enforcement of treaties and laws. It aims to add an ethical perspective to the mostly economical and political considerations that decide about the most important questions of our time. When needed, it will commission research and recommend new policies and laws to protect the welfare of the planet and its citizens.
