ELLA AND CAITLIN MCEWAN *WINNERS*

School girls Ella and Caitlin are on a mission to cut down the amount of plastic toys that are given away with kids meals that might just get thrown away. Their campaign led to over 500,000 people signing their petition, as well as getting them on the BBC television series, War on Plastic. Their campaign ultimately led to huge success, with Burger King vowing to cut out plastic completely from its kids meals (saving 320 tonnes of plastic annually) and Mcdonalds stating it will trial a new policy to allow children to swap out their plastic with something else, such as a book or a toy. 

THEA CAINE

Thea works tirelessly to raise awareness and support conservation and environmental charities, including Born Free, Durham Wildlife Trust and Buglife. She does this in her own innovative way by creating fantastic wildlife documentaries to inspire others to protect our planet, as well as through fundraising efforts such as through the mini Great North Run, a mini triathlon, fundraising parties, baking, wall art and others, raising more than £3000 in the process. She also volunteers with local groups, such as the Nature Friendly Farming Network, which featured at Countryfile Live, where she helped to hand out leaflets and run the children’s activity section of the stand. 

HATTIE PHILLIPS

Hattie contagious passion for all issues around climate change has helped her influence change within both her own school and the wider Maldon & Essex community. She led a whole school climate change work, which included assemblies to all year groups and tutorial activities. She also organised and lead a public meeting which included speakers like her local MP, the head of WWF climate change and the Essex Wildlife trust. This led to her being recruited by the WWF to be their first youth ambassador at The Time is Now mass lobby at Parliament. A winner of the Jack Petchey award, which recognises students that have gone above and beyond, she continues to lobby her MP for action and be a leader in her local community.

ST CHARLES ECO HEROES

The Eco Heroes at St Charles have been working tirelessly to make the school more sustainable, from banning single use plastic to turning the majority of the school field into a wild forest school with over 300 trees from over 40 different species in the last 2 years. They also participate in the #trashtag challenge where their Eco Heroes go out of school and clean up our local area. To increase their international impact, they have established links with a school in Kenya which they regularly fundraise for by giving up sugary sweets, with all the children also having penpals at the school. At Christmas, the school also encourages families to buy only 5 presents each (something you want, need, to eat, to wear and read) in order to cut down on wasteful consumption. They’re a fantastic example of the impact that children can have both within their schools, but also by setting an example for the local community.

ST THOMAS AQUINAS SCHOOL

After a discussion led by CAFOD on the threats of climate change, the students at St Thomas Aquinas were inspired to tap into the youth movements that were emerging around the country and set up their own Eco-Committee to tackle it within the school. This committee is made up of 14 children aged between 5-11 years old that are responsible for ensuring the entire student body are educated on all aspects of environmental issues. For example, to push for local action, each child wrote a letter to their own local MP, Iain Stewart, explaining their concerns and asked for advice on tackling the issue in Milton Keynes. In response, Iain visited the school and took questions on renewables, discussed his ideas on how to make a global impact on climate change why protecting the environment does not feature more prominently as part of the National Curriculum. 

SUNNYSIDE PRIMARY SCHOOL OF CONSERVATION *WINNERS*

The children at Sunnyside in Glasgow are incredibly passionate about helping the environment and making the world a better place. This can be seen in their regular petitions to Parliament (both in Scotland and England) to make climate change more prominent in schools nationwide to their creation of the #naestrawataw and #getyourgroveon campaigns, which highlight how local actions can help the wider world in a big way. One only has to peruse their Twitter feed to see the regular action the pupils take on climate change, such as writing to their penpals in Australia and fundraising for the bushfires to their Ocean Defenders delivering presentations and exhibits in their local community and across Scotland. Their enthusiasm for making the environment central to everything they do in school is truly inspiring.

ARSENAL FC *WINNERS*

Arsenal FC are leading the way in terms of making themselves just as green as the pitch they play on. This can be seen most keenly at the Emirates, which stands as not just one of the largest stadiums in this country, but also one of its greenest. Powered by 100% renewable energy (saving over 7m tons since 2017), it also has a battery storage system which can power the ground for a full 90 minutes (fingers crossed there is no extra time!) as well as a fully implemented LED lights throughout and a 90% recycling rate. They’ve also introduced a raft of measures off the pitch, from planting 3000 trees at their training ground and schools across the UK, to installing a water recycling to re-use the water that goes into their training pitches. When it comes to tackling climate change, Arsenal are near the top of the table that really matters.

LORDS CRICKET GROUND

Lords have been hitting sixes on climate change for years now. Most indicative of their success has been making the ground draw 100% of its energy from renewable sources, a policy which has been in place since 2016. They’ve also installed solar panels on the Warner stand,  implemented a reusable cup scheme and removed plastic cutlery throughout. The stadium has also been landfill-free since 2009, donated all leftover food to local food banks and turned its waste food into a bio-gas which can be then used in electricity generation. Simply put, Lords has sought to address climate change at every aspect of its ground and is a model across the country for how sports can be at the forefront of change. Howzat?!

BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION

Brighton has a reputation for being one of the most environmentally conscious places in the country and their football team is no different. In 2019, the club switched to a fully renewable energy contract to power their stadium, a measure in addition to the solar panels that already operate at their training ground. They’ve also sought to reduce emissions associated with the club, such as how fans get to the stadium on match day. This has been done by offering free bus and train passes to all supporters within the fan zone, as well as providing covered bicycle areas. They also operate a zero waste to landfill policy and make sure that food not consumed on site is distributed to local food banks. There can be no doubt that Brighton are leading the way to a brighter future.

TOAST *WINNERS*

Toast’s entire business has been built with sustainability at its core. To produce their beer, they only use bread in their manufacturing process that would've been wasted, helping rescue one million slices of bread from landfill.To put in context, if that bread was stacked up on top of one another, it would be 1.5 times the size of Everest! This, along with using less barley in their manufacturing process, has helped save over 32 tons of CO2, and freed up over 7 football pitch size equivalents of land for other uses. Finally, they also donate all profits to charity, with over £25,000 so far going to charity, with the lion's share helping Feedback, who work to create a fairer and less wasteful food system. In short, Toast is the best thing since sliced bread.

NATURESAVE

Naturesave are a green and ethical insurance company who practice what they preach by investing in local environmental conscious schemes. Most recently, they installed ten Thermosolar Beehives across the UK to create the UK’s first solar bee network. These innovative hives are a new design that combats the Varroa parasite, which has been increasingly killing honeybee populations across the world. The hives, which use solar energy to destroy the Varroa without chemicals, have been donated in pairs to local community run solar farms. Their recipients will be able to produce a valuable by-crop of honey from each solar farm while also generating clean energy. The trial has been a fantastic success and more are now planned across the country.

THE ZERO WASTE

The Zero Waste is the UK’s first zero waste, organic, bulk-buy, plant-based wholesale shop in the UK. Run by a local family looking to make a difference, the shop has gone from strength to strength since it was set up in 2017. The enterprise showcases a new way of shopping and consuming, whereby our products do not arrive with substantial air miles or encumbering, single-use packaging. This glimpse into a more sustainable future deserves this award for showing what is possible and that the sort of changes we need to see in the years to come are already here, today.

ENERGIESPRONG UK *WINNERS*

Energiesprong UK are worthy winners of this award for their inventive retrofitting process, which showcases the innovative solutions available to address climate change. This process addresses poorly insulated homes by building a modern exterior over it, sharply increasing the building’s energy efficiency. This process can be completed in just 10 days and increase the properties value by 25%, a result of both reduced bills (which can be as much as half!) as well as the improved external aesthetic of the home. 2019 was it's breakout year in the UK as Nottingham Council embraced the project (with stunning results) and it seems likely it will only get more and more uptake in the years to come.

BEN AND JERRY’S

Ben & Jerry’s are a fantastic example of a large business that has embedded tackling climate change throughout its organisation. From its supply chain, where it supports Fairtrade farmers across the world, to the products we see on supermarket shelves, such as Save our Swirled. But their support for climate action doesn’t stop there. They’re also active campaigners, from encouraging fans to call on leaders for ambitious commitments at COP to shutting their Soho shop to join the recent Global Climate Strike and working with 10:10 to campaign for greener policies in the UK. They’re also not afraid of calling for specific policies on their website, such as stopping coal production and putting a price on carbon. Ben & Jerry’s are at the very forefront of the British business world in not just making their corporation a symbol of sustainability, but encouraging others to do so too.

WAUGH THISTLETON

When it comes to reducing the impact of housing on the environment, Waugh Thistleton are pioneers. While traditional ways of construction, such as with concrete, are still overwhelmingly prevalent in the UK, Waugh Thistleton have pushed the boundary and shown that building with new, more environmentally friendly materials is not just possible technically , but also economically. One of these is cross-laminated timber (CLT), which allows strong and resilient wood to be used in creating mid to high rise structures.In the last 10 years, Waugh Thistleton have produced some of the largest CLT projects in the country, from homes to schools to offices, and shown that the solutions to climate change are already here. For this, they are well worthy of this award.

NGOLEAGORBU COCOA FARMERS UNION

On the edge of the Gola Rainforest in Sierra Leone, hundreds of cocoa farmers have joined together to form the Ngoleagorbu Union of Cocoa farmers. Their mission is to improve the livelihoods of local people, whilst protecting the rainforest through sustainable, forest-friendly farming. Supported by Gola Rainforest Conservation, RSPB, Divine and the Fairtrade Foundation, this project is an inspiring example of how local actors can work at the forefront of protecting their forests.

JOS GREEN CENTRE E-WASTE SOLAR PROJECT *WINNERS*

This project in Plateau State, Nigeria, provides poor families with solar electricity by utilising electric waste that would otherwise be dumped and become a hazard to the community. Run by a youth-led activist group called the Jos Green centre, members volunteer their time, passion and creativity to help protect and benefit their local environment. The project benefits are immense: removal of e-waste from the environment, access to energy for poor households, the training of young people in how to produce solar power and the reduction of dirty forms of energy like charcoal, diesel and kerosene. 

ETHIOPIA’S TREE PLANTING SCHEME

Between July and August of 2019, Ethiopia planted an almost unbelievable four billion trees. Enrolling volunteers from across the trees, it embarked on one of the most ambitious tree planting programs in history, with one day in July alone ending with 350m trees planted. Part of their Green Legacy Initiative, the scheme is an example to the rest of the world of what is possible when a nation works together to help protect the things they love.

WIMPOLE FARM

The National Trust’s Wimpole Farm seeks to combine traditional organic farming techniques with the most innovative technologies in agriculture to deliver much more than just a profitable business. 10 years of organic farming have increased soil organic matter levels so that they can sequester 2,000t of carbon a year, meaning the farm is less-than-net-zero! The farm demonstrates this vision of economically and environmentally sustainable farming openly, influencing over 350,000 visitors a year, as well as farmers from across the United Kingdom who manage thousands of acres.

BEAR WOOD

Bear Wood, created by the Wild Place Project, takes visitors on a journey back 1,000 years to when Britain was covered in woodland and bears, wolves, lynxes and wolverines lived together. People of all ages can watch these animals live together harmoniously, illustrating a distant past of what was once possible in our country. But the exhibition is not just about what we once had, but also what we must protect. With only 2% of Britain’s ancient woodland still standing, it is crucial that projects like this continue to raise awareness and make sure we safeguard the UK’s natural beauty.

SEAGRASS PLANTING IN DALE BAY, PEMBROKESHIRE *WINNERS*

Project Seagrass educates, advocates, conducts research and takes action in pushing forward one of the most effective and yet little discussed ways of tackling climate change in the UK: planting and protecting seagrass. Capable of capturing carbon 35 times faster than tropical rainforests, it sequesters 10% of the ocean's carbon and yet only covers 0.1% of the seafloor. However, due to a myriad of reasons such as pollution, runoff from the land and coastal developments, the UK has lost 92% of its seagrass. Created in 2013 by 2 masters students at Swansea University and their supervisory staff at Swansea and Cardiff Universities, Project Seagrass has helped to restore and monitor seagrass stocks, raise awareness about its importance to local wildlife and helped establish the Seagrass Ecosystem Research Group.

This award recognises those MPs have been at the forefront of advocating for greater action on climate change, whether it’s through championing a particular policy or holding others to account in Parliament. 

KERRY MCCARTHY

Kerry has been a consistent and passionate environmental advocate since entering Parliament in 2005. In the last year her work on both the Environmental Audit Committee and the Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee has helped scrutinise the Government's environment actions. It is however Kerry's focus on the role of agriculture and land-use in climate change that has arguably had the biggest impact, championing agroecology and working on related legislation including the Agriculture and Environment Bills. Kerry continues to be highly engaged around the climate and environment debate. She speaks up about the twin crisis' in nature and our climate and is a regular voice is debates and at oral questions. She is very committed to her role as the Parliamentary champion for swifts.

ANNA MCMORRIN

Since entering Parliament in 2017, Anna has distinguished herself as a leader on green issues. She has taken a seat on the Environmental Audit Committee, vice chaired the APPG on climate change and also tabled her own bill on making sure producers cover 100% of the costs associated with dealing with waste packaging. Simply put, she has channelled the same ethos in politics as she did for the previous 15 years as an environmental campaigner and her advocacy for helping protect the things we love makes her a worthy candidate for this award. 

VICKY FORD *WINNER*

Vicky has driven high-impact campaigns locally, nationally and internationally to showcase the damaging impact of plastic waste, particularly on developing countries and the marine environment. She led the influential #GiveUpPlasticforLent campaign and recently supported the Girlguiding plastic promise campaign. She also sponsored the Ten Minute Rule Bill on Net Zero which led to the adoption of the world-leading net zero target, organised a petition to show local support from her constituents for the UK’s bid to host COP26, and is a prominent member of the Conservative Environment Network, regularly making climate-related interventions in Parliament. As a member of the Science and Technology committee, she also supported a major inquiry into how best to ensure the UK meets our climate targets.

To achieve the ambitious climate action we need, it is vital our politicians lead the way. This award is to recognise the MPs who scrutinised, trumpeted and delivered policies that have made the UK a cleaner, greener country.

CLIVE LEWIS

Clive Lewis has established himself as one of the leading green politicians in the country through his sponsorship of a 'Green New Deal' in the UK alongside Caroline Lucas, which outlines how the UK can reach carbon neutrality by 2030. His bill has helped to show that is space for more ambitious climate action in the country, and also drawn attention to the opportunities that shifting to a greener economy can present, such as tackling social inequalities and letting local communities generate their own power.  This, alongside his support of youth activists and vice chair of the APPG on Climate change, makes him a worthy winner of this award.

THERESA MAY

By enshrining in law a net zero carbon emissions target by 2050, Theresa May made history by making the UK the first developed country in the world to commit to such a policy. She raised the bar of what actions can be expected of major countries around the world and cemented Britain's place as one of the global leaders in tackling climate change. She has also pushed for change in other areas, such as reducing the UK’s usage of coal through confirming it would be phased out by 2025 with new pollution standards. Her green legacy will help shape policy in this country for decades to come.

ALEX CHALK *WINNER*

Since being elected in 2015, Alex has consistently driven climate action in Parliament, most notably with his role in getting the UK to announce its net zero ambition. In April 2019, he tabled the Climate Change Bill aiming to set a legal target to meet net zero emissions by 2050, and campaigned for the government to adopt the target, which it did later that year. He’s also led the way for actions in other areas, such as by his 2018 ‘Final Straw’ campaign in Cheltenham to eradicate single-use plastic straws, pushing for a nationwide bottle deposit return scheme and through his membership for the APPGs on cycling, bees and for Ancient Woodland & Veteran Trees.

MPs have a powerful platform to bring about positive change in the community. This award recognises MPs who have gone that extra mile to make their constituencies beacons of sustainability.

CAROLINE DINENAGE

Caroline Dinenage is passionate about the environment and protecting Gosport’s natural beauty. Alongside undertaking personal challenges, such as "Give up plastic for Lent" and the "Pledge on Plastic’ she regularly works alongside local organisations to carry out beach and litter picks, including Surfers Against Sewage, the Marine Conservation Society and the Gosport Wombles. She even launched a first of its kind recycling initiative for paper coffee cups in Gosport! 

ALEX SOBEL *WINNER*

Alex's environmental record is one of the strongest in Parliament: he leads Labour's SERA's network in Parliament, he joined XR protests in London and he has also led calls for an environmental "Marshall Plan' to help safeguard our environment. Alex however is also extremely active at the local level, as can be seen in the ‘Environment Week’ he embarked on during the Parliamentary recess in August 2019. Rather than take the time off, Alex set off through his constituency helping to draw attention to the climate. During the week he attended litter picks, visited environmentally retrofitted homes, went to bug hotels, planted wildflowers, helped out atto a butterfly count, learned more about beekeeping, looked around a recycling company, the list goes on, all the while travelling between them all by electric car. 

DEREK THOMAS

Derek Thomas has championed many local initiatives in St Ives, from helping to secure £23.5m funding for a ‘Reduced Bus Fares’ pilot in Cornwall to launching the Woodland 2020 project, which aims to plant 20,000 trees in West Cornwall by the end of 2020. He also works closely with local groups, such as Surfers Against Sewage, as well as with Cornwall Council on how their declared net zero target of 2030 can be achieved. As well as serving on the Environment Audit Committee, where he has spoken in support of the green energy industry in Cornwall, he is also vocal in support of reducing emissions from housing and creating more sustainable housing regulations.

PARTNERIAETH OGWEN

Over the last six years, this social enterprise has worked to help the community of Dyffryn Ogwen in North Wales both economically, socially and environmentally. One of their greatest achievements has been setting up Ynni Ogwen which has gone on to set up two community renewable energy projects which were funded by local people and not only reduced energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions in the area but also contributed its profits for community and environmental benefit. They’ve also created Egin Ogwen, which gets local communities involved in vegetable growing and biodiversity initiatives, and, Dyffryn Gwyrdd, which provides a co-working space to bring together various environmental and sustainability organisations.

NORTH KENSINGTON COMMUNITY ENERGY *WINNERS*

NKCE is a borough wide energy co-op situated in Kensington and Chelsea in London. Within the context of the high income disparity in the borough, NKCE was established in 2018 to install solar panels on schools and community buildings and use the profits to support and fund positive community actions. Working with the council, three solar panels have been installed on two primary schools and a community centre, which will save 32 tonnes of CO2 a year, generate thousands of pounds of community fund across the life of the project and reduce energy costs. Since this, the co-op is now expanding even further while also offering free workshops to young people in the borough.

CAFOD CLIMATE CHAMPIONS

Climate Champions are a group of 18-35 year old Catholics from all over England and Wales who are encouraging their communities to live more sustainably and campaign on climate change. With 17 current Champs and 35 ‘alumni,’ they inspire others through their faith to take practical and political action: from getting bicycle racks installed at churches, going vegetarian, campaigning against single-use plastic in university canteens, to travelling from Newcastle at 4am so they can join thousands of others meeting MPs at the Time is Now climate and environment lobby, these Climate Champions do all they can to make change happen.

NICK ROUSE

Nick Rouse was part of the team that set up OVESCO, which helps to create community owned renewable energy projects in Lewes. In his 12 years with Ovesco he has never taken a wage, currently comes into the office 3 days a week and was key in the organisation winning the Ashden award in 2014, which recognises excellent in green energy. He is also the director and an investor in a number of other renewable projects including Ouse Valley Energy Services, Eastry Energy and Meadow Blue Community Energy, attending all board meetings and advising on technical matters. Passionate about engineering and education, he even built his own energy bikes which he has exhibited at numerous local schools. Nick’s efforts are indicative of the unsung heroes up and down the country who work tirelessly to empower local communities to help make a greener future possible.

ELLA DAISH *WINNER*

Whilst working full-time as a postwoman, Ella started the #EndPeriodPlastic campaign to bring awareness to the wastefulness of single-use plastic menstrual products. Her petition aimed to get manufacturers and supermarkets to move to plastic free period products and led to a number of UK supermarkets like Tesco now stocking more sustainable products, while Sainsbury removed its own-brand plastic applicator range. Ella has also been instrumental in getting a Welsh council to spend 100% of their period dignity funding on eco period products, a UK first. She is an inspirational, everyday person, achieving significant landmark changes.

MARTIN LINES

Martin Lines is a passionate farmer from Cambridgeshire, who set up the Nature Friendly Farming Network (NFFN). NFFN is a farmer led movement across the UK which connects like-minded farmers across the UK, giving them a voice in future farming policy development and sharing nature and climate friendly farming practices. With Martin at the helm, NFFN has gone from strength to strength and there are now over 3,500 members. Martin is committed to securing farming policies that support the environment and nature, tackle climate change, will support sustainable and regenerative agriculture and provide fairness for farmers.