By Nora Buli

OSLO (Reuters) – The nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize this year are British broadcaster David Attenborough and the World Health Organization. They were supported by Norwegian legislators who have a history of selecting the winners.

Pope Francis and the Myanmar National Unity Government, formed last year by opposition to the coup, are also candidates. Last-minute announcements revealed that Simon Kofe was Tuvalu’s foreign Minister.

The ability to nominate candidates is open to thousands, from former winners to members of Parliaments around the world.

Norwegian legislators have since 2014 nominated a Peace Laureate in every year except 2019, when Maria Ressa was the only nominee.

Nominations are not considered by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The Committee keeps secret the identities of unsuccessful and successful nominees for fifty years.

However, there are some nominees like the Norwegian lawmakers who choose to share their choices.

NATURE, COVID-19

Attenborough is 95 and best remembered for his iconic television series that illustrated nature, “Life on Earth” (and “The Blue Planet”)

He was also nominated by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. (IPBES) assesses biodiversity globally for policymakers.

The leader of the Norwegian Green Party, Une Bastholm said they were selected for their “efforts to inform about and protect Earth’s natural diversity. This is essential for sustainable and peaceful societies.”

Dag Inge Ulstein (a former minister for international development) nominated Pope Francis to be recognized for his contributions in solving the climate crisis and his work towards reconciliation.

Guri Melby (leader of Norway’s Liberal Party) nominated Simon Kofe as Tuvalu’s foreign Minister for his advocacy on climate change.

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to environmentalists in the past. This includes Wangari Maathai (Kenya), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (US) and others. Vice-President Al Gore.

Henrik Urdal from the Peace Research Institute Oslo said that there is still no consensus about climate change being a major driver for violent combat. He cautioned against making too simplistic connections between them.

Since the beginning of the year, people have been concerned about the coronavirus epidemic. The WHO was nominated this year to be the International Organization tasked with combating it.

Urdal said, “I think that the WHO is likely be discussed in Committee for this Year’s Prize.”

Named as a candidate was the Myanmar National Unity Government. This shadow government was formed by military opponents last year after Aung San Suu Kyi, former peace prize winner, was arrested in a coup.

Sviatlana tsikhanouskaya, an exile belarusian opposition leader was nominated to the second consecutive year for her “brave,” tireless, and peaceful work in promoting democracy and freedom in Belarus, according to Haarek Elvenes, parliamentarian.

According to a Reuters poll of Norwegian legislators, other nominees were Alexei Navalny (Russian dissident), the International Criminal Court in the Hague and WikiLeaks, Chelsea Manning and NATO.

The Nobel committee does not endorse nominations that were submitted after Monday’s close.

In October, the 2021 laureate is announced.