Climate activists among favourites for Nobel Peace Prize

Oct 1, 2007, 14:47 GMT

Oslo - The Nobel Committee remains mum but just days before its announcement of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize there was speculation that it would highlight climate change.

'We are not finished yet,' Geir Lundestad, secretary of the Nobel Committee, told Norwegian news agency NTB on Monday.

Lundestad noted that the announcement of the prize worth 10 million kronor (1.55 million dollars) was not due until October 12.

Among the 181 nominations that are known were former US vice president Al Gore and Canadian-born Inuit leader Sheila Watt- Cloutier. Both have highlighted climate change.

Another possible candidate in the same sphere was the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and its head Rajendra Pachauri that has presented a series of reports on climate change and how to tackle it.

The five-member Nobel Committee advises nominators not to announce their proposals but there are no rules against the procedure.

In addition to the Nobel Committee, candidates may be nominated by members of parliament, academics and former Peace Prize laureates.

The 181 nominations included 46 organizations.

Last year the award was presented to Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi national behind the Grameen Movement micro-banking system that has helped millions in his homeland.

Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, endowed the Peace Prize. The award ceremony takes place December 10, the anniversary of his death.