P.E.A. Awards 2026 shortlist

Main image: The P.E.A. Awards 2026 will take place at One Marylebone as part of London Climate Action Week

A serving cabinet minister will compete for the same recognition as a teenage climate organiser from Kenya at this year’s P.E.A. Awards, in association with OMMM.

The Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, has been shortlisted in the Energy category of the 2026 P.E.A. (People. Environment. Achievement.) Awards — the UK’s leading climate awards — whose full shortlist was announced today (04 June).

Activists & entrepreneurs

Founded by Jarvis Smith, the P.E.A. Awards have spent 16 years spotlighting the people behind the products, services and movements changing the face of the planet — often before the rest of the world catches up. Previous winners include Sir David Attenborough and Juliet Davenport OBE.

This year’s list, timed to coincide with London Climate Action Week (20–28 June), places Westminster decision-makers shoulder to shoulder with the grassroots activists and entrepreneurs delivering change on the ground. That contrast underscores the philosophy of the Awards.

‘You can’t lecture people into changing the world — you have to show them it’s already happening.

‘What excites me about this year’s shortlist is the range: a Secretary of State and a teenager from Kenya, judged by the same standard — who is actually moving us from awareness to action? Climate progress won’t come from government or grassroots alone. It comes when they’re in the same room. That’s what this list puts on a plate.’

JARVIS SMITH
Founder of the P.E.A. Awards

Among the nominees are Pavegen, whose flooring turns footsteps into electricity; ecoSPIRITS, a circular-packaging technology that has been shortlisted in four separate categories and Shanariha Evans of Kenya’s Young Warriors Club, who has been recognised in both Climate Pioneer and Youth categories.

16 categories, 6 continents

Beyond the headline names, the 2026 field stretches from a Norwegian sauna-culture pioneer (Badstuegruppen) to a ‘Mother Earth’ school (KAWSAY) in Bolivia and a Times Square artwork created to reclaim Indigenous wisdom.

In the UK, a London library service has been shortlisted for helping a community grow its own food, while NextGenLeaders has been nominated for its work to inspire and empower students to effect change in their communities.

Several nominees appear across multiple categories — a sign, organisers say, of work that refuses to sit in a single box. Lola May of the Paddington Development Trust, with Westminster Libraries’ Eman Asir, features in five, including Best of the Year.

Winners will be announced at the P.E.A. Awards green-carpet ceremony during London Climate Action Week at One Marylebone, London from 18.30 on 22 June.