VANCOUVER - Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki says he's proud to receive an "Alternative Nobel" prize announced Tuesday, but humiliated that Canada has become an international pariah when it comes to climate change.
Suzuki received the honorary award from the Right Livelihood Foundation for his work to raise awareness about environmental issues. He said the award is a recognition of how important the issue has become.
"It's, at the same time, very, very embarrassing that my country has been going backwards in terms of addressing the issue of climate change," Suzuki told The Canadian Press.
He said Prime Minister Stephen Harper has failed to acknowledge that climate change is a serious issue, and that Canada must act.
"That is so humiliating to me as a Canadian, because I have always been very proud of Canada as a country that took international obligations seriously."
He said Canada's failure to live up to its environment commitments is an international embarrassment.
"I think Canadians have always seen ourselves as responsible international citizens but we have become so reviled among the international community. It's really humiliating."
He said he has asked repeatedly to meet with Harper, and has been turned down each time. Yet Canada, with its northern climate and thousands of miles of coastline, is more vulnerable than most industrial countries to the effect of global warming.
Suzuki is best known in Canada for his television and radio series and books about nature and the environment, and he's co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation, which works to protect the environment.
At 73, he continues his crusade. He's currently working on a film about climate change.
"When I'm dying, I want to be able to look at my grandchildren and say `I did the best I could.' I have no illusions. I know I'm not going to save the world. My foundation is a small organization, but we are part of what I hope will be a massive, massive movement," he said.
"I'm one human being. All I can do is do the best I can."
Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull founded the awards in 1980 to recognize work he felt was being ignored by the Nobel Prizes.
The awards were announced Tuesday in Stockholm and will be presented in a ceremony at the Swedish Parliament on Dec. 4, six days before the Nobel Prizes are handed out.
"The 2009 Right Livelihood Award recipients demonstrate concretely what has to be done in order to tackle climate change, rid the world of nuclear weapons and provide crucial medical treatment to the poor and marginalized," the foundation said.
Two activists from Congo and New Zealand and a doctor from Australia won top awards presented by the foundation for their work to protect rain forests, improve women's health and rid the world of nuclear weapons.
Rene Ngongo, 48, founded the OCEAN environmental group in 1994, exposing the impact of deforestation and monitoring the plunder of minerals by warring factions during Congo's 1996-2002 civil wars.
Peace activist Alyn Ware, 47 from New Zealand, established a worldwide network of lawmakers in 2002 to lobby for nuclear disarmament.
Asked to compare their awards with the Nobel, Ole von Uexkull, the foundation's executive director and nephew of the prize founder, noted that Ware had actively campaigned against nuclear weapons for 25 years, while U.S. President Barack Obama - who won the Nobel prize - had yet to translate words into action.
"We have a window of opportunity with Obama opening up to the possibility of nuclear disarmament," von Uexkull said. "He will have the opportunity to take concrete steps now and I hope that he will do it."
- With files from The Associated Press
