Former prime minister David Lange has won one of four Right Livelihood Awards (RLA), known as the alternative Nobel prizes.
The jury in Sweden picked Lange along with two human rights activists in the Philippines, a South Korean initiative to fight white-collar crime and an ethnic-oriented Egyptian company.
Lange was noted for personally defending his government's ban on nuclear-powered and armed vessels from New Zealand territory and for defeating US fundamentalist Christian Reverend Jerry Falwell in a debate, arguing in the affirmative that 'nuclear weapons are morally indefensible'.
Lange's negotiation to release New Zealand hostages from Iraq in 1999, his advocacy for the World Court Project and his emphatic support of Helen Clark's criticism of the Iraq war were also mentioned.
The annual awards are worth 2 million Swedish kronor, however Lange won an honourary award, so does not share in the prize money.
Unlike the Nobel awards, the RLA has no categories. Organisers say "in striving to meet the human challenges of today's world, the most inspiring and remarkable work often defies any standard classification."
They say recipient's work often becomes a holistic response to community needs.
Areas of RLA laureates' activity over the past 20 years include peace and conflict resolution, the environment, human and civil rights, and energy.
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