"Romina Picolotti has given the poor and disempowered people's rights based on protection against exploitation and environmental destruction. She shows how human rights operate not in an isolated manner, but intimately connected with the environment," said the chairwoman of the Sophie Foundation, Gunhild Ørstavik.
Picolotti is born in Argentina and is a lawyer with international law as her specialty. In 1999, she founded the Center for Human Rights and Environment (CEDHA), the world's first organisation solely dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights violated by environmental destruction. CEDHA aims to contribute to sustainable development by illustrating the symbiotic relationship between people and nature.
The Sophie Foundation writes in their justification that they hope Picolotti will use the prize of USD 100.000 to continue her work of using universal human rights as an instrument for establishing collective social, economic and cultural rights.
The Norwegian Minister of the Environment Helen Bjørnøy will award the ninth Sophie Prize on 15 June in Oslo, and congratulates Picolotti on the distinction.
"The award-winner uses law and human rights to protect indigenous peoples and other vulnerable groups that are exposed to environmental destruction. The jury emphasises the manner in which she has exposed how displacing natural habitat can affect people and their environment," said Bjørnøy.
The Sophie Foundation was established in 1997 by Norwegian author Jostein Gaarder, internationally renowned for his book 'Sophie's World', and his wife, Siri Dannevig. The annual prize for the environment and development is awarded to an individual or individuals, or an organisation that has in a groundbreaking or innovate manner identified alternatives to our current development and put them into action.