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This article first appeared in our COP28 issue of My Green Pod Magazine, published November 2023. Click here to subscribe to our digital edition and get each issue delivered straight to your inbox
The UK’s leading sustainability and ethical awards body – the P.E.A. (People. Environment. Achievement.) Awards, in association with Oceandiva London – has revealed its shortlist of green heroes and changemakers of 2023.
Selected by an all-female panel of judges, the shortlist for 2023’s P.E.A. Awards includes environmental champions across 18 categories, including Youth and Indigenous Communities, as well as changemakers in sectors ranging from Arts to Energy.
A Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to an individual whose passion for change has led them to achieve exemplary long-term success in the field of sustainability.
‘It’s so important to share the ideas that can help set us on a path to a more sustainable future. Some of them – like organic farming and energy from wind and solar – are well established and just need more support, while others are more complicated solutions to today’s complex and interconnected challenges.
‘The P.E.A. Awards celebrate the pioneers who are looking for new ways to make a positive difference, and I’m really looking forward to meeting the winners on what is set to be a fantastic night!’
HUGH FEARNLEY-WHITTINGSTALL
Broadcaster, campaigner and P.E.A. Awards 2023 host
This year’s winners will be announced at a sensational awards ceremony, hosted by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, on the Oceandiva London – a zero-carbon yacht which locals have already dubbed the ‘party boat’.
The three-storey, £25m boat is nearly as big as a football pitch and is the largest ever to use the Thames on a regular basis.
‘The P.E.A.s are the only awards I know that really celebrate the individuals – rather than the brands or businesses – who are shaking things up, often against all odds.
‘The awards are about giving these heroes a great time and the night itself has always had a feel good factor – aided by plenty of great food, entertainment and free-flowing drinks. It feels fitting for the original sustainability party to be held on London’s ‘party boat’.’
JARVIS SMITH
P.E.A. Awards founder
A sublime three-course vegan dinner will be served to the 400-strong guest list, accompanied by delicious cocktails, organic wines and beers provided by suppliers of My Green Pod Hero drinks.
(Sponsored by Encore)
Ben and Ciara, Going Green Media
This media company highlights green projects and solutions from across the globe, spotlighting incredible people, projects and innovations that are actively making our world a greener place, and sharing their journeys with an audience of over 300,000 individuals.
Dewi in the Deep (team)
In this musical audiobook for kids, an eight-year-old girl goes on an adventure through the ocean, meeting sea animals and finding out how environmental damage affects them and us.
Earth Minutes (team)
This environmental communications company is a young collective of environmental researchers and creatives, working across a variety of media from film production and social media to workshops that engage the unengaged in the environment.
Forests Without Frontiers (team)
This non-profit organisation plants trees and rewilds degraded land in the UK and Romania, with the help of music and arts.
Janina Rossiter, 1, 2, 3, Who’s Cleaning The Sea?
Amazon-bestselling, award-winning artist and multi-award winning author Janina Rossiter brings her passions together in her work: painting and illustrating children’s books.
(Sponsored by Deloitte)
Cathy Yitong Li
At COP26, Cathy successfully negotiated the history-making seats for women, youth and Indigenous peoples at the UN’s climate technology advisory board. This marked the first formal membership for women and youth at the UN on climate change.
Eleni Polychroniadou, Sintali
Sintali verifies the impact of the built environment around the world, acting as an independent third party to validate sustainability claims made about buildings and ensure companies, governments and financial institutions are genuinely making a positive difference.
Fazeela Mubarak
Local lead for Fridays for Future Kenya, a platform to bring forward MAPA (Most Affected People and Areas) voices to the global platform, and founder of Wild Heart Kenya, raising awareness around climate breakdown, nature regeneration and activities with Indigenous communities.
Justin Sutton-Parker
CEO for Px3 and a Research Fellow for the University of Warwick. His research has created world-first applications that enable global tech brands such as Google and Microsoft and the third sector to reduce IT carbon footprints by ~32%.
Hope Solutions (team)
Environmental sustainability consultancy with flagship projects in the music, media and entertainment industry – including a baseline scope 3 assessment for Warner Music Group and its first ever ESG report and baseline assessment of Coldplay’s A Head Full of Dreams World Tour.
Zahra Biabani
Climate justice activist, author and founder of In the Loop, the world’s first rental clothing service specifically for vetted sustainable and ethical fashion brands. Zahra shares actions, content and positive climate news to over 50,000 followers on her social media platforms.
(Sponsored by Krystal)
Advanced Infrastructure (team)
The LAEP+ (Local Area Energy Planner Plus) Platform is a planning tool for local authorities and their partners to create the infrastructure we need to supply energy across our country, in our journey towards a net zero world.
Citibeats (team)
This social data platform gathers actionable insights into the population’s concerns around key impact areas, such as sustainable development, financial inclusion, natural disaster response, migration, social policy, food security, education and more. The goal is to bring humanity back into decision-making.
Earth Minutes (team)
(See Arts nomination)
GreenInsight (team)
This AI carbon accounting engine has been adopted as the NHS’s go-to solution for cutting emissions. It looks at every individual item, calculating an accurate carbon footprint for each instead of a categorical average.
North (team)
The Smart Waste Management Solution by North and CGI for Edinburgh City Council optimises waste collection, reducing emissions and creating cleaner urban spaces. This scalable IoT-based system sets a model for sustainability, inspiring other cities and fostering collaboration for a greener future.
(Sponsored by Avallen)
Boatyard Distillery (team)
This bin-free distillery transforms spent botanicals into chocolate, liquid waste into electricity and barrels into furniture and brewery tools. Leftover fruit is turned into compost and even condiments.
Feragaia (team)
By using locally grown botanicals, employing low-impact manufacturing and supporting purpose driven organisations, the makers of this alcohol-free spirit strive to minimise waste, reduce emissions and champion a sustainable lifestyle while fostering community engagement.
Papillon Gin (team)
A range of artisanal gins, in eco-friendly packaging, inspired by nature and hand-crafted in small batches using locally sourced botanicals that capture the essence of the English countryside.
Sapling Spirits (team)
With refill options and a ‘buy one plant one tree’ programme, Sapling focuses on reforestation, regenerative farming, waste reduction and eco packaging. The company has a goal to plant 1,000,000 trees by 2027 and has already got over 150k in the ground.
Two Drifters (team)
A successful drinks producer with a genuine sustainability story that could serve as a blueprint for other companies. A self-imposed carbon tax encourages sustainable decision-making and has resulted in a carbon-negative rum.
(Sponsored by Puredrive)
Lily Cairns Haylor, Advanced Infrastructure
With LAEP+, the Advanced Infrastructure team has identified a huge need and provided a scalable solution that impacts the progress of multiple sectors towards a greener, more sustainable future. The planning tool helps local authorities create the infrastructure we need in our journey towards a net zero world.
Orsted (team)
Orsted develops, constructs and operates renewable energy projects – embracing the power of offshore wind, onshore wind and solar energy to provide clean, reliable and efficient solutions for a greener future.
Pedra Wadstrom, Solvatten
Solvatten, a social enterprise based in Sweden, created its Solar Safe Water System to provide clean water to under-served communities around the world. The goal is to provide people living in developing countries with safe and hot water in a portable, eco way.
(Sponsored by myenergi)
Co-Charger (team)
This community charging network is a matchmaking service for EV drivers. It lets motorists rent their EV chargers, helping the 40-50% of drivers who can’t install a charger at home to swap to an electric car, and takes care of all the communication, booking and payments.
ENSO Tyres (team)
Every acceleration, brake or turn wears a car’s tyres, emitting thousands of tiny particles into our air. ENSO has developed tyres specifically for electric vehicles, to extend range and reduce emissions from wear and tear.
Paxster (team)
Paxster has developed an electric light delivery vehicle for city use as part of its range of last-mile vehicles with different volume capacities. They can be used for post, parcels and more.
Spark EV (team)
Spark works with car companies, suppliers and technology integrators to provide personalised range management software for electric and hybrid vehicles of all sizes. It provides accurate journey predictions to remove anxieties around range and charging time.
Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Gorilla Conservation Coffee
Gorilla Conservation Coffee provides smallholder farmers on the outskirts of Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) with access to global agricultural commodity markets, increasing incomes and resilience and reducing threats to forest resources and mountain gorillas.
Kenneth Rimdahl, Forest Friendly Tea
This Swedish entrepreneur and businessman is working to protect nature in Northern Thailand by growing tea together with the forest and making local farmers become guardians of biodiversity through business. The more tea sold, the more nature the business can protect.
Liberation Foods (team)
The vegan, Fairtrade nuts sold by Liberation in the UK and Europe are planted, nurtured and picked by the same smallholder farmers that are majority shareholders of the business. True value is placed in the hands of those who deserve it most and reinvested back into the local community and environment, whether in Malawi, Kerala, Nicaragua or the Amazon.
Lou Palmer-Masterton, Stem & Glory
Stem & Glory is a 100% vegan and carbon-neutral business, with plant-based restaurants in Cambridge and London. Its menu features a carbon-labelling system that allows diners to understand the CO2 per kg of each dish.
Marc Coloma, Heura Foods
The goal at Heura is to challenge our food system and leave animals out of the protein intake equation. The company has become Europe’s fastest-growing plant-based meat company.
Avril Greenaway, Cleaner Seas Group
The Cleaner Seas Group has created a microfibre filter cartridge that can easily be connected to washing machines to help prevent microplastic pollution from your laundry contaminating our waterways and seas.
City to Sea (team)
This environmental organisation is on a mission to stop plastic pollution. It runs people-powered, community-serving campaigns that help individuals and businesses to change the world – while having some fun on the way. The problem might be complicated, but City to Sea believes the solutions don’t have to be.
David Greenfield, Tech-Takeback
A simple and scalable community-based scheme to repurpose unwanted electricals and promote reuse, using creative ideas to prevent tech from ending up in landfill.
Jo-Anne Chidley, Reposit Scheme
Jo-Anne created the world’s first closed-loop solution for beauty packaging, putting an end to the single-use plastic commonly used in beauty products. Empties are returned to be washed and reused, with a goal to save up to 10 million empties from landfill within 18 months.
Hope Solutions (team)
(See Climate Pioneer nomination)
(Sponsored by Weleda)
Carrie Cort, Sussex Green Living
Using a retrofitted electric milk float as a mobile classroom, displays are adapted to deliver sessions on fast fashion, food, planting for the climate, recycling and other topics for schools, colleges and events. Carrie also coordinates the Sussex Green Hub, which includes a
Repair café, a Refill centre and a Carbon Clinic.
Farmer Nick – Nick Cutsumpas
As a ‘plant coach’, Nick’s ethos is if he can teach people to care for their houseplants and gardens, then these plants will become stepping stones for them to care for our planet. He creates educational content on EVs, how to reduce plastic use, vegan cooking and composting, and holds annual fundraisers for organisations like Earth Justice and Teens for Food Justice.
Incognito (team)
One of incognito’s key remits is to educate the public on the increased risks associated with insect bites on our shores as a result of climate change. Life-threatening diseases which for many years had been eradicated are reappearing in the UK and EU as global temperatures increase, allowing insects to flourish.
Joanna Maiden, Kujuwa Initiative
This circular fashion social enterprise tackles period poverty and menstrual hygiene in Kenya by exposing misconceptions, building knowledge and helping girls to have the same opportunities as boys. It produces and donates reusable sanitary pads from upcycled fabric waste, giving girls a non-toxic, safe alternative to disposable sanitary pads.
Amazon Watch (team)
This nonprofit was founded in 1996 with a goal to protect the rainforest and advance the rights of Indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin. It partners withIndigenous and environmental organisations in campaigns for human rights, corporate accountability and the preservation of the Amazon’s crucial ecological systems.
Cheryl Pailzote, Highland Support Project
Cheryl, a White Mountain Apache tribe member, water resources expert and farmer, organises and runs community courses on cooking and nutrition, family gardens and seed saving with the Highland Support Project. The goal is to preserve culture and combat persistent water and agricultural issues in their communities.
IWGIA (team)
The International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) is a global human rights organisation dedicated to promoting, protecting and defending Indigenous people’s rights.
Landesa (team)
Landesa champions and works to secure land rights for millions of the world’s poorest – mostly rural women and men – to provide opportunities and promote social justice.
Sacred Headwaters (team)
Concerned citizens from around the world are calling for steps to safeguard the Sacred Headwaters, a vast alpine basin that is the shared birthplace of the Skeena, Nass and Stikine Rivers. Royal Dutch Shell wants to drill more than 1,000 methane gas wells here and Fortune Minerals wants to turn Mount Klappan into an open-pit coal mine.
Trees, Water & People (team)
Trees, Water & People has co-created and financially supported community-led food production programmes in Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, reclaiming traditional ecological knowledge, educating communities about the benefits of agroforestry and strengthening economic development by helping to improve market access.
Andy Orchard, Plantally
It’s taken time for Andy to develop the trust of Indigenous groups, and their willingness to receive their own medicines both from a foreigner and in a way strange to their tradition. Through Plantally, Andy has used this method to direct money from Indigenous medicines back into their communities.
Deogracious Kalima
A freelance journalist from Malawi who began reporting on climate change, sustainability, agriculture and rural livelihoods in 2016. Local people have read the stories and been encouraged to adopt sustainable livelihoods that help mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Going Green Media (team)
(See Arts nomination)
Máximo Mazzocco
Founder of the global non-profit Eco House and an environmental advocate who uses his social profiles and role as a UNDP Youth Global Ambassador to drive sustainability and promote education around climate and the environment. Maximo has shared panels with high-level authorities from around the world, and has written more than 20 laws.
Mikaela Loach
Mikaela, author of the bestselling It’s Not That Radical: Climate Action To Transform Our World, is a climate justice activist focusing on the intersections of the climate crisis with oppressive systems and making the climate movement a more accessible space. She was a claimant on the ‘Paid To Pollute’ case over public payments given to fossil fuel companies.
Rebecca Daniel
Marine biologist and ‘ocean storyteller’ who communicates ocean science in an easy-to understand way, notably through the Marine Diaries, which educate people about the wonders of our oceans and the urgent need to protect them.
Chris Packham
Extraordinarily creative and prolific, Chris Packham has already led a remarkable life. He’s gained recognition as a naturalist, television presenter, writer, photographer, conservationist, campaigner and filmmaker.
John Burton, World Land Trust
John was a regular columnist with New Scientist, assistant editor of Animals magazine (now BBC Wildlife Magazine) and a natural history author specialising in field guides including guides to European mammals, North American mammals and European reptiles and amphibians. John wrote six children’s books and edited several multi-author works including the National Trust Book of British Wildlife, Owls of the World and the Atlas of Endangered Species.
Professor David Hill
A passionate conservationist, David was a founding member of Natural England, a member of the government’s Ecosystem Markets Taskforce and a commissioner with the independent Food, Farming and Countryside Commission. When it comes to implementing biodiversity net gain (BNG), there’s nobody better. In fact, he introduced the concept to the UK in 2006 and his unparalleled work has now been embedded into the Environment Act.
Chris Fry, The Nature Finance Impact Hub (Accelar)
This hub pinpoints the environmental and financial metrics of nature-positive projects across the world. By showcasing comparable data, helping those running and evaluating projects and supporting the design of future projects, the goal is to accelerate the range of projects coming through so green finance markets can begin to work at a larger scale.
Conrad Langridge, Sage Earth (was Spherics)
This online platform enables companies and organisations to measure not only their own carbon footprint but also those of their suppliers. The task is huge and has traditionally been served by individual carbon consultants, but there are thousands of carbon consultants to the millions of businesses in the UK alone that need help.
Ethex (team)
Since 2013, this direct impact investment platform has helped around 20,000 everyday people invest and raise over £100 million to back more than 200 pioneering projects that are taking real steps to tackle climate change.
Monika Martinsson, Deedster
This tech company has developed digital tools – including a Lifestyle Climate Footprint and Carbon Tracker that provide a carbon footprint based on the information about your consumption, lifestyle and habits. The goal is to empower everyone to act for the planet in a fun and accessible way.
Sustainable Futures Network (team)
NatWest’s bankwide employee-led network to support and encourage colleagues to embed sustainability at work and at home. Its ‘Institutional Activism’ strategies help passionate people create change wherever they work.
(Sponsored by Yeo Valley)
Edwin Nyaguthii, Trees for Planet Profit and Future
Trees for Planet Profit and Future is a nonprofit project based in Kenya that works with women and youths to plant and grow fruit-bearing trees. The trees act as carbon sinks while their fruit can be sold on the local markets, financially empowering the community.
Hannah Bourne-Taylor, The Feather Speech
Hannah launched a campaign to make swift bricks mandatory in every new-build home across Britain. In 2022 she marched the busy streets of London, painted from head to toe in feathers, and secured a debate in parliament. She visited primary schools around the UK and transferred the children’s poems to a ball gown, later worn at the Generation Hope event.
Michael Kennard, Compost Club
This social enterprise has created a community of composters in Brighton, Hove, Lewes, Lancing and surrounding areas that diverts local food waste from landfill or incineration and cycles its nutrients into compost full of the microorganisms that give life to the soil.
Rewilding Britain (team)
The first and only country-wide organisation in Britain focusing on rewilding and the amazing benefits it can bring for people, nature and climate.
Surfers Against Sewage (team)
Over the last 30 years this grassroots environmental charity has grown into one of the UK’s most successful marine conservation and campaigning groups. Its sewage pollution alerts use a real time map to track sewage discharge and pollution around the coast of the UK.
Dayrize (team)
Offers rapid impact assessment of consumer products, enabling business and consumers to bring consumption within planetary boundaries. Dayrize’s climate tech product (Lucy) is automated and the results are made available at a fraction of the cost of a traditional Life Cycle Analysis (LCA).
Human Milk CIC (team)
A clothing brand and education movement that supports breastfeeding mothers. Breastfeeding is now rightly being positioned as a gender equality, public health and climate justice issue. It has the power to reduce infant mortality by at least 823,000 children per year, as well as saving the lives of 20,000 women lost to breast cancer.
Jeroo Doodhmal, Pip and Henry
Kids’ shoes made using vegan, eco-friendly materials including organic cotton in the uppers and linings, a natural textile made of waste pineapple leaf fibre in the panels and recycled rubber soles. The recycling programme allows parents to exchange outgrown shoes for money off their next purchase.
Out of the Box Gifts (team)
These eco and vegan-friendly gift boxes for teams and clients replace traditional, often forgettable branded items. The goal is to make the corporate gifting industry memorable and sustainable. The products are ethically sourced from purpose-led businesses.
Smooth Edge (team)
Inspired by the intricate designs of gin bottles, but horrified that they usually end up in landfill, Justin and Leah decided to try to upcycle them into something new. To date they have saved over 10,000 bottles from landfill and transformed them into handmade, upcycled glassware for a minimalist eco look in your house.
(Sponsored by Delphina Hotels & Resorts)
Aradhye Ackshatt
Aradhye uses his YouTube channel to encourage and inspire those travelling to the higher Himalayas to leave no trace when they visit. He talks to the locals about how to address guests’ ‘someone else will pick up after me’ mentality. His goal is to expand his zero-impact travel initiative throughout the Himalayas.
COCO+ (team)
COCO+ Travel is a full-service travel management company, committed to making a difference to the planet. It combines intuitive technology that prioritises the most sustainable trip options with its Offset+ Pledge, enabling businesses to travel net zero – at no extra cost and no extra effort.
Incognito (team)
(See Health & Wellbeing nomination)
Kieron Van Bosch, Camplight
Camplight’s goal is to transform the way people travel to and stay at UK festivals. It has been tackling tent waste in the festival sector for almost 10 years, picking up tents abandoned at festivals, cleaning and restoring them, then offering them back to festival-goers at an affordable rental cost.
Mark Smith, Seat 61
Seat 61 is a travel site that started as a hobby. Mark’s detailed research makes it extremely easy to travel without flying; simply plug in your destination and you’ll get a route to pretty much anywhere in the world by train, boat or both.
Faggin Foundation (team)
The Federico and Elvia Faggin Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to the scientific study of consciousness. It supports various research programmes at US universities and research institutes to advance the understanding of consciousness through theoretical and experimental research.
Reboot the Future (team)
Reboot the Future’s mission is to foster a new world where we treat others and the planet as we’d wish to be treated. This ‘Golden Rule’ is a thread that runs through Reboot’s campaigns, education and leadership programmes; if followed, it could transform our world into a more compassionate and sustainable place.
Retake Roma (team)
This organisation strives to empower individuals to actively take care of public spaces and reawaken their sense of responsibility towards their local communities on the whole. By organising cleanups, fostering meaningful conversations, organising workshops with schools and facilitating grassroots efforts, RETAKE seeks to create a more aware society while encouraging people to take collective action for progressive change.
The Global Consciousness Project (team)
This collaboration of scientists and engineers collects data from a global network of random number generators in up to 70 host sites around the world. When human consciousness becomes coherent, the behaviour of random systems may change; the evidence suggests an emerging noosphere, or the unifying field of consciousness described by sages in all cultures.
Unify (team)
A synchronised global meditation that has unified 500 million people in 10,00 cities and 150+ countries for meaningful causes. Local communities are united through social action, including beach cleanups and feeding the homeless.
Choose Liberation (team)
A social enterprise and Community Interest Company that places real value on the producer groups and smallholder farmers it trades with. The vegan, Fairtrade nuts are planted, nurtured and picked by the same smallholder farmers who are majority shareholders of the business.
Lou Palmer-Masterton, Stem & Glory
(See Food nomination)
Marc Coloma, Heura Foods
(See Food nomination)
Angela Zhong
Angela was selected by the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs to develop a youth-focused project employing emerging climate technology to tackle deforestation. She is focused on youth climate engagement and was one of the main presenters in the Global Youth Climate Challenge Lab in South Korea.
Free To Be Kids (team)
The team works with disadvantaged children across London to rebuild self-esteem, boost resilience and to help explore challenging emotions and ways of managing. They do this via a range of therapeutic adventures and countryside-based respite residentials, whatever the season.
Máximo Mazzocco, founder of Eco House
(See Influencer nomination)
Mikaela Loach
(See Influencer nomination)
The Visionaries (team)
Educational programmes supporting the transition into a healthy adulthood equipped with a deeper connection to nature and community. The experiences help youths and the adults who work with them to discover a greater sense of purpose and belonging, build resilient communities and nurture a healthy vision for their future.
The Young People’s Trust for the Environment (team)
This charity provides clear and balanced information on environmental issues ranging from climate change and plastic pollution to deforestation and endangered species. This enables informed decisions about how to live our lives in a way that gives greater priority to the preservation of the natural world.
UK Youth Climate Coalition (team)
A voluntary, consensus-led and non-profit organisation. Its organising members are based all over the UK, and share the common goal of achieving genuine global climate justice.
All aboard Oceandiva London for this year’s green-carpet awards ceremony.
Shortlist of climate heroes and changemakers announced ahead of ‘Fantasy and Futurism’ green-carpet awards ceremony.
Congratulations to all the winners of 2020’s P.E.A. Awards!
P.E.A. Award 2019 winners announced at immersive green-carpet ceremony that invited guests to become ‘Agents of Change’.
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