Press Release – Tuesday, 28 March 2017 16:35: Elon Musk is one of four winners of this year’s Oslo Business for Peace Award. He is given the prize for his pioneer work within sustainable transportation. The Honourees will receive the award in a ceremony in Oslo City Hall on the 16th of May.
The three other winners are Durreen Shahnaz, Dr Harley Seyedin and Murad Al-Katib.
Durreen Shahnaz receives the award for her work in spearheading the transformation of the way financial and capital markets work, focusing on purpose and maximising impact. Her work in Impact Investment Exchange Asia (IIX), the world’s first stock exchange dedicated to social enterprises – which she founded in 2009, has positively impacted 10 million lives to date.
Dr Harley Seyedin is an Iranian immigrant to USA, who has spent his life building a multi-national electricity and low carbon infrastructure development business with great success in China and the Philippines. He has lived more than 20 years in China and for the past nine years he has held the position as president of the American Chamber of Commerce in South China.
Murad Al-Katib, son of Turkish immigrants to Canada, receives the Award for his entrepreneurship in leading the way in sustainable agriculture and contributing to feeding millions of refugee families in the Syrian crisis.
Elon Musk receives the Award for his leadership of the way forward in the automotive industry, and for his showcasing of business’ ability to help confront and solve the world’s most demanding and complex problems. The battery technology of Tesla has recently been successfully combined with solar energy in his company SolarCity, USA’s second largest provider of solar systems.
The full justification from the Award Committee can be read here.
The announcement of the 2017 Honourees was made by Secretary General John Danilovich of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) at an event in Oslo City Hall on the 28th of March, hosted by the governing mayor of Oslo, Raymond Johansen.
Committee of Nobel Laureates
An independent committee of five Nobel Laureates in peace and economics selects the Honourees from a pool of nominees put forward by the UN Development Program, UN Global Compact and the International Chamber of Commerce. The Award Committee members are Nobel laureates Ouided Bouchamaoui, Dr Shirin Ebadi, Leymah Gbowee, Finn Kydland and Michael Spence.
The four Honourees will receive the award in a ceremony in Oslo City Hall on the 16th of May, as part of the annual Business for Peace Summit. The theme for this year’s Summit is “Brundtland + 30 – Breakthrough Ideas for Futureproofing the Global Economy.” Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland herself will give the key note speech.
About the Business for Peace Foundation
The Oslo Business for Peace Award is granted by the Business for Peace Foundation. The Oslo based Foundation honour individual leaders who in an ethical and responsible way create value for business and society, and thereby help to build a peaceful and prosperous environment where all can thrive. The Foundation’s vision is that all business leaders have as their purpose to improve society — to be businessworthy.
