Right Livelihood Award - Nature of The Award

Nature of The Award

Some media refer to the prize as the Alternative Nobel Prize,. The prize is frequently understood as a critique of the traditional Nobel prizes.

The prize differs significantly from the Nobel Prizes:

• similar to the Sveriges Riksbank economics prize, it is not a fulfillment of Alfred Nobel's bequest and thus not one of Nobel's own prizes
• it has an open nomination process (anyone can nominate anyone else, except close relatives or their own organizations);
• it is not limited to specific categories.
• its prize money is considerably lower than the one of the Nobel Prize. Currently it is 200,000 € compared to about 1,000,000 € for a Nobel Prize.
• the funds for the prizes are continually acquired by donations, while the Nobel Prizes come from the revenue of Alfred Nobel's fortune. The economics prize is financed by Sveriges Riksbank.