The professional fisherman and President of Snowchange (ICCA Consortium Member) received the 2021 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize for bringing together Indigenous and local wisdom and knowledge with western science to address global climate issues
First published on 02/02/2022
By the ICCA Consortium Secretariat, with excerpts from the Tällberg Foundation’s press materials
“There’s no bigger thing to do than undoing the damages of the past century to survive this century. If we are able to untangle and address some of the social and environmental damages that have happened, I think humanity and our communities will have a fighting chance.”
— Tero Mustonen
As the head of Selkie, a village in North Karelia, Finland, and the co-founder and President of the Snowchange Cooperative (ICCA Consortium Member), Tero Mustonen is working to protect and restore the unique biological and cultural diversity of Arctic and boreal regions in the face of climate breakdown and in solidarity with the region’s local and Indigenous peoples. He is also actively involved in multilateral processes, including as a lead author of the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a contributing author of a 2021 FAO book on Indigenous Peoples’ food systems, and co-author of an impressive number of peer-reviewed journal articles.
In recognition of his substantial accomplishments, Tero was awarded one of two 2021 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prizes, along with Sri Lankan marine biologist Dr. Asha de Vos. Learn more about Tero’s story and work in the Foundation’s feature.
This recognition of Tero’s global leadership follows closely on the heels of Snowchange receiving the prestigious St. Andrew’s Prize for the Environment for their ambitious Landscape Rewilding Programme.
