Tuvalu Politician who Delivered COP26 Speech in Seawater Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

Tuvalu Minister for Justice, Communication, Foreign Affairs and advocate for his work raising awareness around the impact of climate in particular for his island home, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Simon Kofe gave an impassioned speech delivered at the UN COP26 Climate Summit held in Glasgow, Scotland in 2021. His recorded video went viral addressing world leaders while standing in knee-deep seawater.

University of South Pacific Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Pal Ahluwalia congratulated Mr Kofe a former alumni of USP for his nomination.

“The Nobel Peace Prize is in recognition of your outstanding effort in raising awareness of the reality of climate change in Tuvalu. It is a proud moment for USP and on behalf of the University, congratulations on your nomination”.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which chooses who receives the award, does not comment on nominations and has kept the names of nominators and unsuccessful applicants confidential for the past 50 years.

Mr Kofe was nominated by Guri Melby, leader of Norway’s Liberal Party.

The 2022 laureate will be announced in October.

Image credit: tuvalu-overview.tv/eng/topics/worst_case.html