Tang Prize laureate Gro Harlem Brundtland has urged nations around the world to foster sustainable development. The former prime minister of Norway is in Taiwan attending the Tang Prize week and speaking about her life’s work at forums around the island.
During a speech Brundtland gave in the southern city of Kaohsiung, she said countries around the world are directing their economies on a greener and more environmentally friendly path. She also believes that tax regimes should be reformed in many nations so that the top 1 % can contribute more to society. Brundtland said that reform requires vision and determination, but it is essential in building a democratic society.
The biennial Tang Prize was founded in 2012 by Taiwanese entrepreneur Samuel Yin. The prize has been described as Asia’s answer to the Nobel Prize.
Brundtland coined the term “sustainable development” and put sustainability on the international political agenda. She currently serves as deputy chair of The Elders, a group of world leaders brought together in 2007 by late South African president Nelson Mandela to work for peace and human rights and find solutions to global crises such as climate change and the AIDS pandemic.