Now celebrating its seventh year, the International Green Awards look to celebrate and acknowledge those businesses who are leading the field in terms of implementing innovative sustainability approaches. Spread across six categories, awards include the most sustainable large corporate, medium business, small business, NGO, government and educational institution.
Seeking to find those organisations which have embedded sustainability across all aspects of their business, entrants are judged on energy, water, waste, resources, carbon, transport, supply chain and social impact. Last year’s participants perfectly illustrated the global presence of the awards where over 500 entrants were judged from 108 countries, including Singapore, India, Australia, Germany, Norway, Sweden, South Africa, the US and UK.
This year the awards are free to enter, with each participant additionally receiving a free sustainability report on their current strengths and areas of opportunity and improvement to increase future performance.
Overseeing the 2012 awards will be a panel of international judges comprising the former Costa Rican President, Jose-Maria Figueres, former Executive Secretary to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Yvo de Boer and Andrew Steer, Special Envoy for Climate Change.
President Jose-Maria Figueres commented on the ethos behind the awards, “The challenges we face with climate change are not challenges at all, but incredible opportunities. In fact, I believe it to be the greatest wealth creating opportunity of our generation as we move to a post-carbon economy.”
Alongside the actual awards themselves, a series of best practice conferences have also been organised to encourage the sharing of knowledge and experiences among global and regional organisations, promoting the direct impact sustainability can have on business profits. These ‘city summits’ will bring together past winners and industry experts, and seek to engage with audiences on their current sustainability strategies. The series of summits kicked off in Dubai at the beginning of June, with a further six scheduled throughout August including five in Australia and one in India.
Last year’s shortlist included Unilever (UK), Puma (Germany), The Yalumba Wine Company (Australia), University of La Punta (Argentina),The Danish Transport Authority and Greenworld.org for its “Times Square Takeover”.
Chief Executive Officer for WWF Australia, Dermot O’Gorman summed up being nominated, “Receiving an International Green Award is a prestigious accolade for any environmentalist or environmentally focused organisation, acknowledging key achievements and dedication in the area of sustainable innovation.”
The closing date for this year’s entries is 23 August, with shortlists being announced in the second week of October and the winners being announced at the awards ceremony on 20 November at the Battersea Power Station, London.
