Al Gore frontrunner for Nobel Peace Prize

Former US Vice-President-turned-eco-campaigner Al Gore could be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize today. His efforts to combat climate change, showcased in his controversial film “An Inconvenient Truth”, could win him the more-than one million euro prize. Gore says he’s made it his life’s mission to save the planet, but he’s been criticised for misleading his audience.

It’s possible Gore could share the prize with the UN Climate Panel if the Nobel Institute opts for an expanded concept of peace this year. Canadian Inuit and climate change activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier could also be included in any joint award.

But there are 181 nominees on the list and the decision is a closely-guarded secret. Finland’s former president Maarti Ahtisaari is another front-runner after helping to secure peace in Indonesia’s Aceh province two years ago before turning to the thorny issue of Kosovo’s independence.

The European Union itself may also be honoured for five decades of peaceful integration.

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