The 2000 Volvo Environment Prize was awarded Professor José Goldemberg, Professor Thomas B Johansson, Professor Amulya K N Reddy and Dr Robert H. Williams, representing four continents, for their joint work on the global energy problem. The emphasis is on energy use rather than supply and is manifested in co-authored books having had important influence on global policy work. One constructive idea in the laureates’ work is that of bringing technologies into practice in the South that have not previously been commercialized in the North. It points a way to global energy systems that are environmentally sound and responsive to human needs.