Indian-origin professor receives Dutch prize for climate change work

Indian-origin professor Dr Joyeeta Gupta has received the Spinoza Prize, the highest distinction in Dutch science, at a ceremony in the Netherlands for her work in the field of climate change.

The Professor of Environment and Development in the Global South at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) was conferred with the prize by the Netherlands’ Minister for Education, Science and Culture Robert Dijkgraaf at The Hague on Wednesday.

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) prize is worth 1.5 million euros, which Gupta intends to spend on scientific research and activities related to knowledge utilisation.

"Congratulations to Dr Joyeeta Gupta for receiving the prestigious Spinoza Prize by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), the highest distinction in Dutch science for her outstanding and pioneering work on a just and sustainable world,” said the Indian Embassy in the Netherlands after the prize ceremony.

According to the NWO citation, Gupta investigates how the distributional issues arising from climate change can be solved through good governance. She argues that the consequences of climate change have a direct impact on the relationship between rich and poor.

“What I want to try to do is ultimately work towards a global constitution,” she says.

Central to her research is understanding the connection between the climate crisis, possible solutions and justice. To do so, she brings together various scientific disciplines, from international law and economics to political science and environmental studies.

“Science is important for the future of the world and our country. The Netherlands has no cheap labour or earth resources. Our only resource is our knowledge. That is a precious but not self-evident asset,” said Minister Dijkgraaf, himself a former Spinoza laureate.

The NWO selection committee was said to have been deeply impressed by the scientific impact of Gupta's knowledge and called her research “incredibly broad and interdisciplinary”. At the core of her research is an attempt to unravel the connections between the climate crisis, global water challenges, possible solutions and justice.

Gupta studied at Delhi University, Gujarat University and Harvard Law School, and obtained her PhD from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She has been a Professor of Environment and Development in the Global South at the UvA since 2013. She is also a professor at the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education.

The Spinoza Prize has been awarded annually since 1995 and Gupta is the twelfth UvA researcher to receive the award.