Founder and Chairman
- Jakob von Uexkull
© 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 Uexküll. After schooling in Sweden and Germany he graduated with an M.A. (Honours) in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Christ Church, Oxford.
Jakob von Uexkull is married and has three children. He lives with his family in London. He holds both Swedish and German nationality.
Jakob von Uexkull is the founder (1980) of the Right Livelihood Award, often referred to as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize'. He is a co-founder (1984) of The Other Economic Summit and a past Member of the European Parliament (1987-9) where he served on the Political Affairs Committee. He is a patron of Friends of the Earth International and a member of the Global Commission to Fund the United Nations. He served on the UNESCO Commission on Human Duties and Responsibilities (1998-2000). He has also served on the Board of Greenpeace, Germany, and on the Council of Governance of Transparency International. He lectures widely on environment, justice and peace issues. He is also a recognised philatelic expert with publications including The Early Postal History of Saudi Arabia (London, 2001).
Jakob von Uexkull has been honoured 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. He has also received the Future Research Prize of the State of Salzburg, Austria (1999), the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana of the Republic of Estonia (2001), and the Order of Merit First Class of the Federal Republic of Germany (2009).
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.
