The UN Programme of Action from the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 - Agenda 21 - enhances women's participation in national and international ecosystem management and control of environment degradation.

Following that line, the objective of the Rachel Carson Prize is – in this age of globalization – to emphasize women’s contributions to environmental management by presenting an environmental award every two years to a Norwegian or international candidate.

The prize was initiated during a meeting in Stavanger in 1991, where professor Berit Ås had a lecture on the ecological chains. On discovering that the audience knew nothing about Rachel Carson, she became so shocked that she offered her reward for the lecture of NOK 2000 to establish the Rachel Carson Fund together with NOK 10 from each of the persons present. This resulted in NOK 4000 to the fund, to be awarded to a female environmentalist.The initiative was followed up by 3 Stavanger women, Ms. Else Olsen, Ms. Brit Skjærvø and Ms. Venke Helene Thorsen, who invented the Rachel Carson Prize. The award bears Carson’s name to set a high standard and to signal that it rewards contributions to raise pulic awareness and build environmental attitudes in society over a long period of time.

The award consists of a sum of money and a statuette. The statuette is a cormorant, made by the artist Irma Bruun Hodne (see picture to the right - June 2003). This water bird has been chosen to symbolize Rachel Carson’s commitment to save the seas and to represent a species threatened by man’s indiscriminate use of chemicals. The prize is being governed by a board, seated in Stavanger, Norway. The board appoints a free and independent jury, the Prize Committee, which elects the award winner. You can find the Rachel Carson Prize By-laws here.
The prize was awarded during the ENS Conference (Environment Northern Seas) in Stavanger from 1991-1999. In 2001, it was awarded during the Women Show the Way event in Stavanger, in 2003 during the International Week,  in 2005 during the Research Days, and in 2007 as part of the World Environment Day celebrations.		Irma Bruun Hodne and the "Cormorant" statuette. Click the picture for large size.