20 January 2010
City of London to celebrate the 9th annual ‘Green Oscars’
Today, the City of London Corporation gets out the ‘Green Gongs’
for 38 organisations from the private and public sectors. All are
competing to win one of the highly coveted Sustainable City
Awards.
Dubbed the ‘Green Oscars’, the awards recognise and reward
businesses for their excellent achievements in all areas of
sustainable business development. Despite UK businesses
experiencing one of the most challenging of years in 2009, the
environmental and financial benefits of sustainable business
practice have remained high on the business agenda.
Third Sector organisations were particularly to the fore on this
year’s shortlist, with a 133% increase in new applications overall.
Applications from the Third Sector include Dulwich Picture Gallery,
for their use of art to enrich the lives of older people in the
community, and Newquay Zoo for implementing sustainable measures
which have both cost and carbon savings benefits.
On Thursday 18 February, at a ceremony in Mansion House, David
Kennedy, Chief Executive of the Committee on Climate Change, will
award the ‘Green Gongs’. Among other organisations hoping to
feature are:
- Bluewater Shopping and Leisure Centre for turning 6,000 tonnes
of waste into an education study centre.
- The UK’s first organic gastropub the Duke of Cambridge in
Islington.
- Deutsche Bank for an impressive climate change strategy, which
incorporates measures to reduce water usage, energy usage, and
general waste.
Simon Mills, Head of Sustainability at the City of London
Corporation, says, “Copenhagen was unable to set binding emissions
reduction targets. However in spite of this UK businesses are
pulling out all the stops to ensure they maintain a sustainable
business model and keep emissions low – and we can see this in the
high calibre of entrants. Businesses are already putting into
practice the Government’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions
by 10% by the end of 2010.”
This year’s key-note speaker, David Kennedy, CEO of the
Committee on Climate Change says, “Business will be key in
achieving the UK’s target to cut emissions by 80% in 2050. It is
important to recognise and reward the efforts made by those getting
sustainable business practices right. We hope that other businesses
will then follow suit, reaping benefits both in terms of the bottom
line and contributing to tackling climate change.”
The 2010 Sustainable City Award’s judging panel consists of a
number of environmental and sustainable experts, including the Rt
Hon. John Gummer, MP, Conservative MP for Suffolk Coastal, Samantha
Heath, CEO of London Sustainability Exchange, and Penny Shepherd
MBE, CEO of UK Social Investment Forum.
The RSA accredited Sustainable City Awards were established in
2001 by the City of London Corporation and are run in partnership
with 20 organisations, including livery companies, trade bodies and
voluntary sector organisations and businesses. Representatives from
each of these organisations join the judging panel to select
winners and runners-up across the award categories.
Award categories & shortlisted companies
Access to Goods and Services for Disadvantaged
Communities
In association with the City Bridge Trust and the Worshipful
Company of Pattenmakers (London wide)
- East London Food Access - A network of projects helping
to improve access to fresh foods
- Dulwich Picture Gallery - First purpose-built public art
gallery
- Trees for Cities - An organisation working with local
communities to plant trees in urban areas
- Rape & Sexual Abuse Support Centre - A UK charity offering
caring services to female victims of abuse
- Roots & Shoots - A charity providing vocational training
for vulnerable young people
The Farsight Award
In association with Gresham College and USS (International)
- Société Générale - French bank
- Cheuvreux - European equity broker
- Daiwa Institute of Research Ltd - Integrated financial services
firm
- Deutsche Bank - German financial service provider
- Bank Sarasin & Co Ltd - A private equity firm
Sustainable Buildings
In association with BRE and the Worshipful Company of Chartered
Surveyors
- John Thompson & Partners - Architects and urbanists
- St Martin’s Property (Rogers) – Property development
company
- Studio E Architects & Max Fordham – Architects
- Aviva – Insurance group
- Pod Foods Ltd – Sustainable food outlet
Sustainable Travel & Transport
In association with the Campaign for Better Transport (UK
Wide)
- Easit – Sustainable transport company
- Green Tomato Cars – Sustainable private hire London based taxi
firm
- London Borough of Bromley
Responsible Waste Management
In association with the Clean City Awards Scheme (UK Wide)
- Land Securities – Commercial property firm
- Alara Wholefoods – Organic food producers
- Skanska – Constructions firm
- Vacherin – Contract careering firm
- Bluewater – Shopping and leisure centre
Resource Conservation
In association with the Worshipful Company of Launderers and the
Worshipful Company of Water Conservators (UK Wide)
- Newquay Zoo
- Deutsche Bank
- Artillery Architecture and Interior Design
- John Thompson & Partners
- Land Securities
Sustainable Food
In association with Sustain: the alliance for better food and
farming (UK Wide)
- Vacherin
- Eversheds LLP
- Wahaca – Mexican restaurant in Covent Garden
- Learning through Landscapes – UK school grounds charity
- Duke of Cambridge – Gastropub in Islington
Sustainable Finance
In association with UKSIF (UK Wide)
- Jones Lang Lasalle – Global real estate firm
- Cafédirect plc – Fair trade drinks suppliers
- Aviva Investors
- Henderson Global Investors - Property
- Oxfam – leading UK charity
Environmental Management in SMEs
In association with the London Sustainability Exchange and the
Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners
- Paper Round – Office, recycling and waste management firm
- Alara Wholefoods
- Suzanne James – Entertainment and Events company
- Newquay Zoo
- Vacherin
- Artillery Architecture and Interior Design
Tackling Climate Change
In association with Pure and Worshipful Company of Fan Makers
(UK Wide)
- Jones Lang LaSalle
- BG Group
- Green Tomato Cars
- DLA Piper UK LLP
- Land Securities
Sustainable Procurement
in association with London Remade Solutions (UK Wide)
- Cafédirect plc
- Greater London Authority
- Carbon Disclosure Project – Corporate climate change
information centre
- Duke of Cambridge
- KeepCup – Sustainable cup suppliers
Ends
Notes for editors
Further information and judging criteria for the Sustainable
City Awards, along with an application form can be found at:
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/sca. Entrants are
strongly encouraged to submit applications using the online
application forms. An MS Word version of the form is also available
on request by e-mailing
sca@cityoflondon.gov.uk
and completed forms can be returned to the same address.
There is no fee for participating in the Sustainable City
Awards.
The Sustainable City Awards are made possible through
partnership with the following organisations:
- Better Transport
- BRE
- Clean City Awards Scheme
- Gresham College
- London Remade Solutions
- London Sustainability Exchange
- Pure
- Sustain Magazine
- Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming
- The City Bridge Trust
- The UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association
- The Worshipful Company of Chartered Surveyors
- The Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners
- The Worshipful Company of Fanmakers
- The Worshipful Company of Launderers
- The Worshipful Company of Patten Makers
- The Worshipful Company of Water Conservators
- Universities Superannuation Scheme
- Z/Yen Group
The City of London Corporation:
As the body providing local government services to the Square Mile,
the City of London Corporation’s primary role is to support and
enhance the business City – a world-leading international financial
and related business services centre. The City of London
Corporation is also committed to working with its neighbours to
support the regeneration of local communities. The City of London
or “Square Mile” shares its borders with some of the country’s most
deprived boroughs where unemployment remains high. The City of
London Business Traineeship programme brings together these two
objectives; helping the City to attract high calibre, well
motivated staff able to meet its skill needs, whilst also looking
to local sources to attract talented individuals as future members
of the workforce.
Press enquiries
Lizzie Boylan Ward at Rain Communications UK
T: 020 7222 4345 E:
Lizzie.boylanward@raincommunications.co.uk