World's Top Science Competition Awards $1M To Australia's Visionary Scientist Tackling Global Climate Crisis
June 17, 2025
The Frontiers Planet Prize has named its three 2024/25 International Champions, including Australia's Dr Arunima Malik. The winners are scientists offering innovative, scalable solutions to help keep humanity safely within planetary boundaries.
Dr Arunima Malik will receive a prize of one million dollars (USD) to further her research and impact.
The winning research focuses on the environmental and social impacts of international trade and its effect on meeting the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Following an independent scientific assessment involving 100 experts, chaired by Professor Johan Rockström, the developer of the Planetary Boundaries framework, the prize ensures faster global scientific consensus around the innovative ideas with greatest potential to drive change.
On 17 June, the Frontiers Planet Prize announced Dr Arunima Malik, from The University of Sydney, as one of its 2025 International Champions, awarding her $1 million to advance her and her research team's pioneering work in sustainability science. Providing groundbreaking, scalable solutions to help keep humanity within planetary boundaries, Dr Malik received the award for the publication, Polarizing and equalizing trends in international trade and Sustainable Development Goals, featured in Nature Sustainability.
This year's three International Champions were revealed at the Frontiers Planet Prize Award Ceremony, hosted by the Villars Institute as part of the 2025 Villars Symposium in Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland. The three International Champions were selected from a group of 19 National Champions chosen by the independent Jury of 100, a group of renowned sustainability and planetary health experts chaired by Professor Johan Rockström.
The world's largest and most ambitious science competition for planetary health, the Frontiers Planet Prize is a global call to action - accelerating innovation, igniting impact, and rallying the academic world to confront the planetary crisis with urgency and bold solutions.
The award-winning research by Dr Malik and her team highlights the environmental and social impacts of international trade and the complex role it plays in achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. The research is also highly relevant for shaping policies related to the Loss and Damage (L&D) fund, offering data-driven guidance on financial contributions from developed countries to support developing nations in addressing climate-related losses and damages.
Commenting on the award, Dr Arunima Malik said: 'Commenting on the award, Dr Arunima Malik said: 'It's an honor and a privilege to receive this recognition and support from the Frontiers Planet Prize. This esteemed prize will provide impetus to drive sustainable solutions for planetary health. It is inspiring and vital as we search for innovation and action in the face of global environmental challenges. This $1 million award will significantly help accelerate our ability to expand our research and further highlight the nuances around the impact of trade and associated positive and negative impacts on both people and planet around the world. With these resources, we can advance research with policy-relevant insights, and develop tools to inform sustainable solutions, especially in contexts where climate vulnerability and economic inequality intersect. I would take this opportunity to thank the research team, Prof. Manfred Lenzen, Dr Mengyu Li, Camille Mora, Dr Sarah Carter, Dr Stefan Giljum, Dr Stephan Lutter and Prof. Jorge Gomez-Paredes for their valuable contributions.'
Commenting on the Frontiers Planet Prize, Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said: 'The Frontiers Planet Prize is more than a scientific award - it is a catalyst for the urgent transformation we need to stay within planetary boundaries. The three 2025 International Champions exemplify the power of science to deepen the understanding of the fundamentals of our earth systems while also delivering actionable, scalable solutions to the intertwined crises of climate, biodiversity, and inequality. Their work stands at the intersection of scientific novelty, innovation, and impact, showing us that a sustainable and just future is within reach—if we act boldly, and fast. It has been an honor to chair the Jury of 100 and witness firsthand the incredible depth of scientific excellence mobilized by this prize."
Jean-Claude Burgelman, Director of the Frontiers Planet Prize, added: 'The 2025 International Champions embody the spirit of the Frontiers Planet Prize: bold science in service of humanity and the planet. This Prize is building a global community of researchers who are not only advancing knowledge but actively shaping the path to a sustainable future. These Champions inspire all of us – demonstrating that through collaboration, courage, and scientific integrity, transformative change is not only possible, but already underway.'
About the Frontiers Research Foundation:
The Frontiers Research Foundation is a not-for-profit organization based in Switzerland, which was founded by Kamila and Henry Markram, neuroscientists from the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology (EPFL). It raises funds to support programs that accelerate scientific solutions for healthy lives on a healthy planet.
About the Frontiers Planet Prize:
The Frontiers Planet Prize is a global competition for scientists and research institutions to propose solutions to help the planet remain within the safe operating space of any one or more of the nine planetary boundaries. It was created by the Frontiers Research Foundation on Earth Day 2022 to mobilize the global scientific community, make it complete at the highest level of excellence, and contribute to the acceleration of concrete solutions to the challenges defined by the planetary boundaries. To-date, it has drawn together hundreds of scientists, 23 national academies of science, over 600 leading universities and research institutions to compete for three prizes of 1M USD each as adjudicated by a Jury of 100 leading sustainability scientists.
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