I had the honour today of receiving the Sigríður í Brattholti Nature Conservation Award, presented annually by the Minister of the Environment, Energy and Climate on the Day of Icelandic Nature.
Here’s what the Government of Iceland website says about the award:
“For many years, Andri Snær has been a tireless advocate for nature, raising public awareness of nature conservation and climate change and their consequences for nature and society. Among other things, he has drawn attention to the protection of Icelandic nature, the country’s glaciers, ocean acidification, and the fundamental changes brought about by climate change.
Andri Snær has succeeded in making complex environmental and climate issues understandable and accessible to the public. He has studied scientific research and communicated its findings in an accessible way, including through books, films, lectures and active participation in public debate. In doing so, he has bridged the gap between science and the public and drawn attention to the responsibility of present generations towards nature and future generations.
Andri Snær has also long been an active participant in the debate over the use and protection of Icelandic nature. In Dreamland, published in 2006, he addressed nature conservation, energy issues and the Icelandic highlands, among other things, and the work sparked widespread public debate about the value of nature and decisions concerning its use.
In more recent years, Andri Snær has placed particular emphasis on climate change and its effects on glaciers and the ocean. In the book On Time and Water, published in 2019, he discusses the melting of glaciers, rising sea levels and ocean acidification, among other things, and sets these changes in the context of people’s lives and responsibility towards future generations. The book has reached readers around the world and has now also become a documentary of the same name, produced by National Geographic.
Andri Snær also played a part in drawing worldwide attention to the fate of Okjökull. Ok lost its status as a glacier in 2014, and in 2019 a memorial plaque was placed on the mountain to commemorate it and to raise awareness of the effects of climate change. Andri Snær’s text on the plaque, A Letter to the Future, draws attention to the responsibility of the present towards future generations, and the ceremony and memorial attracted attention both at home and abroad, making Ok an international symbol of glacial retreat and the impact of climate change.”