In a brand-new international competition for sustainability, a Chinese scientist took home the Frontiers Planet Prize 2023 on Thursday in Montreux, Switzerland.

In a brand-new international competition for sustainability, a Chinese scientist took home the Frontiers Planet Prize 2023 on Thursday in Montreux, Switzerland.

The Frontiers Planet Prize honours innovations in sustainability science and solutions that have a demonstrable chance of assisting humanity in preserving the integrity of the Earth’s ecosystem.

Professor Gu Baojing of Zhejiang University said during the award ceremony that his research focused on global nitrogen management, one of the most vulnerable aspects of the planetary biome of Earth, as well as a matter of food security.

Gu received the award for his study, “Abating ammonia is more cost-effective than nitrogen oxides for mitigating PM2.5 air pollution,” which appeared in the prestigious academic journal Science in 2021.

For the Earth system and human society to have a sustainable future, Gu said that ongoing research on the interactions of nitrogen management with sustainable development and global change is essential.

The prize was won by four scientists of various nationalities. The other three winners are Dr. Paul Behrens from Leiden University in the Netherlands, Professor Mark New from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and Professor Carlos Peres from the University of East Anglia in Britain.

Gu claimed that the Frontiers Planet Prize encourages academics all over the world to conduct scientific research to safeguard the health of the Earth’s environmental system, which is crucial for the creation of a sustainable future for the planet. The Lausanne, Switzerland-based Frontiers Research Foundation, a non-profit organisation, formally introduced the competition on April 22, 2022, Earth Day.

It involved 13 national science academies and 233 universities from six different continents. 100 sustainability professionals on a jury that was independently selected evaluated the submissions.

The director of the Frontiers Planet Prize, Jean-Claude Burgelman, expressed his excitement at seeing not only a winner from China but also a large number of participants from that nation.

China is a major player in the fields of science, climate change, and significant advanced research. According to Frederick Fenter, chief executive editor of Frontiers, China has developed into a research powerhouse in addition to a publishing powerhouse.

According to what I understand, China has realised how crucial it is to invest in science and technology, according to Fenter. And very impressive statistics can be found regarding the quantity of papers and patents being published in China.