International Business Game Changers announced at the 6th International Green Awards

The 2011 International Green Awards™, in association with Climate Change - The New Economy (CCTNE), is proud to announce the winners of this year’s awards, including the overall Grand Prix Winner - Unilever PLC.
This year’s 6th International Green Awards™ came to a climax last night with a magnificent, glittering, ‘green carpet’ event at the iconic Natural History Museum. BBC veteran, Phillippa Forrester and sustainability luminary Leo Johnson hosted the ceremony and announced winners for all 20 categories, along with the Best International Green Celebrity Award, new this year, won by Gisele Bündchen; the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award and this year’s overall Grand Prix Winner, Unilever PLC for their Sustainable Living Plan.

The awards posthumously recognised Prof. Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement, with the 2nd Lifetime Achievement Award; for her lifelong commitment to environmental protection particularly through the establishment of the Green Belt Movement.

The award was presented by Ms Elizabeth Kan of First Eastern Investment Group to Francesca de Gasparis, Director of the Europe office of the Green Belt Movement, who was a close friend of Prof. Maathai. Aside from the inspiration of Wangari’s story, the entertainment of the ‘Green Poet’ and singing from Opera Mezzo Soprano Jennifer Brisk, the night’s speakers, Nick Nuttall, Acting Communications Director and spokesperson for UNEP and Peter Byck, Director, Producer and Writer of climate change movie Carbon Nation, gave enlightening and insightful speeches to an audience of wide-ranging sustainability professionals. The turnout this year was the best yet, with representatives from almost all shortlisted entries and considerable interest from numerous socially and environmentally focused organisations.

This year, the International Green Awards™ took further steps to establish the event globally, encouraging worldwide participation across 20 categories. Entries were received from all over the world, including Bahrain, India, Kenya, United States, Denmark, Australia, South Africa and Sweden amongst others. The quality of work submitted made the judges’ task of choosing winners quite difficult. It was not only the high standard of the entries, but also the cultural and social variances between countries which made judging an interesting and challenging experience. The winners of each category demonstrated true commitment and innovation in pursuing sustainability. The judges chose both original technological solutions like Lucid Design Group (USA) and their Building Dashboard, and effective campaigns being implemented within developing country contexts, notably Peru’s ambitious tree planting scheme, Eco Arki.

The International Green Awards™ Grand Prix is the overall winner of the event which is judged the best amongst all the entries. This Award is for a campaign which, in the opinion of the expert judging panel, best exemplified an outstanding sustainably message, and had the greatest capacity to change the way society and business is perceived. This prestigious award went to Unilever Plc, by virtue of their ambitious Sustainable Living Plan, which puts the multinational company on track to reduce its impact on the environment whilst also developing and expanding as a company. Judges were impressed by the extent and ambition exhibited by the strategy considering the wide-ranging nature and size of the organisation, with measured progress and ambitious targets to install sustainability within all aspects of the company, forming a world leading core strategy for the future.

For details of all this years winners see www.greenawards.com with examples of the work that won

INTERNATIONAL GREEN AWARDS 2011 WINNERS

Best Green International Business Award (Large) (BRONZE PARTNER Climate Change The New Economy)

WINNER Unilever plc (UK)
Silver Puma SE(USA/Germany)
Bronze DNV (Norway)

Best Green International Business Award (Medium)

WINNER The Yalumba Wine Company (Australia)
Silver Kebony ASA (UK)
Bronze Wellman International (Ireland)

Best Green Entrepreneur Award (or Start-up) (BRONZE PARTNER The Carbon Trust)

WINNER Dale Vince (UK)
Silver Double Helix Tracking Technologies (Singapore)
Bronze Reel Gardening (South Africa)


Best Green Government Award

WINNER Dublin Fire Brigade – “Kilbarrack Fire Station” (Ireland)
Silver CityWest Homes –“Solar PV Project” (UK)
Bronze Peterborough City Council (UK)


Best Sustainable Investment (BRONZE PARTNER Emerald Knight Consultants Ltd)

WINNER The Environmental Investment Partnership LLP (UK)
Silver Global Environmental and Social Business (UK)
Bronze Sindicatum Sustainable Resources (Singapore)


Best Green Technology Award (BRONZE PARTNER Danwood)

WINNER Flexenclosure (Sweden)
Silver Pavegen Systems Ltd. (UK)
Bronze NLYTE (UK)


Best Green Energy Efficiency Initiative Award

WINNER Marks & Spencer (UK)
Silver OPower -“Leading the Way Towards Taking Cities off the Grid” (USA)
Silver Hewlett-Packard –“HP Wynyard Data Centre” (Germany)
Bronze BBC / Arup- “BBC low energy lighting programme”(UK)


Best Green 4R’s Award (Reduction, Reuse, Recycling, Recovery)

WINNER Ecologic Brands (USA)
Silver Insource Energy (UK)
Silver Reliance Industries Limited (India)
Bronze LSE (UK)


Best Green Intelligent Buildings Award

WINNER Deutsche Bank -Deutsche Bank Towers (Germany)
Silver PWC – 7 More London (UK)
Bronze Beijing Chyau Fwu Properties Co Ltd – “Parkview Green FangCaoDi” (Hong Kong)

Best Green New Product Innovation

WINNER Solvatten AB – “Solvatten” (Sweden)
Silver Samsung Electronics – “Ecobubble Washing Machine” (UK)
Silver Nissan International SA – “Nissan Leaf” (Global)
Bronze Puma SE – “Clever Little Bag” (USA)


Best Green Service Innovation Award

WINNER Onzo Ltd. (UK)
Silver Ricoh Europe (Netherlands)
Bronze Clipper Logistics Group Ltd (UK)

Best Green Educational and Sustainability Awareness Award

WINNER South West College –“SWC Sustainability” (UK)
Silver Neal’s Yard – Neal’s Yard Remedies (UK)
Bronze Groundwork Pennine Lancashire –“Offshoots Permaculture Project” (UK)
Bronze Convention on Biological Diversity - “The Green Wave for Biodiversity” (Canada)


Best Green Employee Engagement Award

WINNER Earthwatch – “Engaging HSBC Employees in Sustainability” (UK)
WINNER Marks & Spencer – “Plan A Employee Engagement” (UK)
Bronze Deutsche Bank – “Earth Week” (Germany)


Best Green Not for Profit Organisation

WINNER The Nottingham Energy Partnership (UK)
Silver Tap Water Ltd.(UK)
Bronze Global Action Plan (UK)


Best Green Conservation and Biodiversity Award

WINNER Blue Marine Foundation (UK)
Silver Coral Cay Conservation (UK)
Bronze De Beers Group (UK)


Best Green Water Stewardship Award

WINNER Environment Support Group – “A Collaborative Initiative for the Wise Use, Conservation and Protection of Lakes” (India)
Silver Wessex Water – “Wessex Water Catchment Management” (UK)
Bronze Coca Cola South Pacific Pty Limited – “Project Catalyst” (Australia)


Best Green Advertising & PR Award

WINNER The Danish Transport Authority – “Drive Green” (Denmark)
Silver British Gas –“Green Streets” (UK)
Silver Greater London Authority –“ Capital Bee - Saving London's Bees” (UK)
Bronze Republic of Everyone - “Garage Sale Trail” (Australia)
Bronze P&G – “Future Friendly 4 2010” (UK)
IFAW – “Meet Us Don’t Eat Us Campaign” (Iceland)


Best Green Audio-Visual Award

WINNER O’ Domhnaill - “The Pipe” (Ireland)
Silver Peterborough City Council- “Gillian’s Footprint Counts” (UK)
Bronze Do The Green Thing – “Climate Kid” (UK)


Best Green Cross Platform Digital Media Solution Award (Best use of Mobile Applications Social Media and online content Award)

WINNER Lucid Design Group Inc – “Building Dashboard” (USA)
Silver Greenworld.org – “Times Square Takeover” (USA)
Bronze Orange – “Do Some Good Mobile Volunteering App” (UK)


Best Green Collaborative Initiative Award

WINNER EcoArki SRC - “AGRORURAL “The 230 Million Tree Campaign” (Peru)
Silver The Forest Trust – “Nestle TFT Partnership” (UK)
Bronze TTXGP Limited – "TTXGP World Championship - The world's leading electric vehicle motorsport series” (UK)
Bronze University of La Punta - “Balance Zero” (Argentina)

(EDITOR: Well done, everyone!)