The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, located on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, was awarded the Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation on Wednesday. Considered the world's largest seed reserve, the underground facility stores more than 1.3 million samples of thousands of varieties of cultivable plants, essential for humanity's food security.
The jury, chaired by jurist and former Spanish Defense Minister Gustavo Suárez Pertierra, highlighted the 'silent cooperation' of the critical infrastructure as a legacy for future generations. The vault was created in 2008 by the Norwegian government in partnership with an international nonprofit organization, with the aim of safeguarding crop diversity in the event of natural disasters, human conflicts, or other emergencies.
Norway's Minister of Agriculture, Nils Kristen Sandtrøen, said the award is an 'important recognition of international cooperation' that made possible the conservation of up to 1.3 million seed samples of the most important food crops for the future. The vault has already demonstrated its practical utility: in 2015, researchers recovered seeds lost from the city of Aleppo, Syria, devastated by war. In 2025, it received 2,000 samples from the National Germplasm Bank of Sudan, which was attacked during the country's civil war.
The award, one of the most prestigious in the Ibero-American world, comes with 50,000 euros (about $58,000) and a sculpture by Catalan artist Joan Miró. The vault was selected from 32 candidates from 17 nationalities. The award ceremony will take place in October in Oviedo, Spain, presided over by the Princess of Asturias, Leonor, and King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia.
This is the fourth award of the 2026 edition of the Princess of Asturias Awards, which have already recognized singer Patti Smith (Arts), Studio Ghibli (Communication and Humanities), and chemists David Klenerman, Shankar Balasubramanian, and biophysicist Pascal Mayer (Scientific Research). Last year, the International Cooperation award was given to Mario Draghi, former Italian prime minister and former president of the European Central Bank.