Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore said winning a Nobel Peace Prize was an indicator of the good work the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was doing.
Gore and the IPCC won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Friday for their efforts to battle human-driven climate change.
"I'm deeply honoured to receive this award," Gore said Friday. "It is even more significant because I have the honour of sharing it with the IPCC."
Gore, who had been widely expected to win, took home an Academy Award this year for "An Inconvenient Truth,'' his documentary on global warming.
"His strong commitment, reflected in political activity, lectures, films and books, has strengthened the struggle against climate change,'' the citation said.
"He is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted.''
The note also credited Gore with being among the first to trumpet "the climatic challenges the world is facing."
"This is a richly deserved reward," Dr. David Suzuki told CTV's Canada AM on Friday. "He's been at it a very long time."
'True planetary emergency'
Meanwhile, the citation credited the IPCC for releasing two decades of scientific reports that have "created an ever-broader informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming.''
"(The IPCC) is made up of individuals who have tirelessly and selflessly worked on this for so many years," Gore said Friday. "We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity."
"It is the most dangerous challenge we have ever faced, but it is also the greatest opportunity that we have ever had to make changes that we should be making," he said.
The panel is made up of a network of about 2,000 scientists, many of whom were surprised by the honour.
"We would have been happy even if he had received it alone because it is a recognition of the importance of this issue,'' spokeswoman Carola Traverso Saibante said.
Many had speculated that Canadian Sheila Watt-Cloutier, an Inuit activist, would share the award with Gore.
Other frontrunners for the prize included President Martti Ahtisaari, who brokered a 2005 peace deal between Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement; and Irena Sendler, a woman who saved Jewish children in Poland during the Holocaust.
A five-member committee in Norway awards the Peace Prize, but its work is extremely secretive. It does not even release the names of contenders, but those who nominate candidates had stated Gore and Watt-Cloutier were in contention.
The Peace Prize is usually given to a person or persons who are involved in peacemaking and disarmament issues. But in recent years, the concept behind the award has been broadened to include democracy-building, environmental concerns, and human rights issues.
The Peace Prize includes a gold medal and US$1.5 million cash award.
Gore for president?
The award is adding to speculation that Gore is now poised for another run at the U.S. presidency in 2008.
However, two Gore advisers, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that the award will not make a run any more likely.
One of the advisers said the possibility was "extremely remote."
CTV's Washington Bureau Chief Tom Clark said there is a huge push to have Gore run in 2008 -- including a 'Draft Gore' movement that includes an ad in the The New York Times.
But, with Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama already running, Clark said the timing is "inconvenient" for Gore -- even with the Nobel win.
"I don't think it's leading him anywhere just yet," said Clark.
British judge rules on Gore documentary
Gore's film, which is the third highest grossing documentary of all time, will be shown to students throughout Britain's secondary school system.
But a British judge ruled this week that the film is political in nature, and that not all of its claims are scientifically accurate. Teachers who show the film will therefore be required not to promote Gore's partisan views.
They must also make efforts to provide "balance" when presenting controversial material. The judge made the ruling after a lorry driver from Kent challenged the film's use in public schools.
With files from The Associated Press
