Christos Zerefos, president of the National Observatory in Athens, and his colleague, Professor Alcibiades Bais of Thessaloniki University, are the first two Greeks to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, even if they share it with dozens of other scientists.
Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was jointly awarded the 2007 Nobel with Al Gore, decided that the IPPC’s prize should be shared with 45 distinguished scientists who had contributed more than anyone else to the work of the panel.
The panel had been given the peace prize “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures... needed to counteract such change.”
“They paid me the honor of including me among those presented with the award,” said Zerefos. “Ten days ago, I received the Certificate of Participation in the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.”
Zerefos said he felt doubly honored as Bais, his colleague and successor at the Atmospheric Physics Laboratory, was included in the award.
“It is no doubt an honor, particularly for Greece, which has a bad name with regard to environmental issues.”
Scientists selected by the IPCC from other countries for this honor have been feted by their compatriots. The award to the two Greek scientists has received little publicity.
(ΚΑΤΗΙΜΕΡΙΝΙ, 22/05/2008)