Johan Rockström awarded the Tyler Prize

The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement is considered to be the world's most prestigious prize for efforts in environmental science, environmental health and energy. The prize is 250,000 US dollars and is sometimes called the "Nobel Prize in the Environment". The 2024 prize is awarded to Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, for his pioneering work on the planetary boundaries framework (see below).

Professor at Stockholm University

Johan Rockström
Photo: Jadranko Marjanovic

Johan Rockström is also a professor of environmental science at Stockholm University. In the years 2007-2018, he was director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC) at Stockholm University. In 2009 Johan Rockström and colleagues 2009 published the ground-breaking study on planetary boundaries. It is a framework that identifies the natural systems supporting human life on Earth and the changes that can safely be made within them without seriously altering life on the planet. Johan Rockström and SRC have subsequently published several noted studies about planetary boundaries.

Well-cited researcher and communicator

Johan Rockström is one of the world's most cited researchers. He is also  well known as a communicator and debater on climate and sustainability issues. Johan Rockström is the co-author of several books such as "Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet", which became a documentary on Netflix with Sir David Attenborough. Several of Johan Rockström's lectures have also been widely spread in social media.

The prize will be awarded on May 17 at a ceremony in Potsdam.

Previous recipients of the Tyler Prize include Bert Bolin, professor of meteorology at Stockholm University, and Paul Crutzen, atmospheric chemist at Stockholm University and Nobel laureate in chemistry in 1995.

Read more on the Tyler Prize web
Read more about Johan Rockström on the Stockholm Resilience Centre web

Planetary boundaries

Planetary boundaries integrates nine systems that determine the function and state of the planet. They enable human life and include systems such as clean water, a stable climate and biodiversity. This framework has helped shape public responses to climate change and sustainable development, including the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. Humanity is "well outside the safe operating space" on six of the nine planetary boundaries, according to the latest update on the planetary boundaries, published September 2023 in Science Advances.