This week, eleven game-changing initiatives will be celebrated as winners of the prestigious UN Global Climate Action Awards during the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow.
The recipients of this special 10th-anniversary edition of the Awards are being recognised as some of the most practical, scalable and replicable examples of what people across the globe are doing to tackle climate change.
This recognition will culminate in an award ceremony between 18:00 and 19:30 GMT on November 10, 2021.
The Awards have been spearheaded by UN Climate Change (UNFCCC) since 2011. The executive secretary, UN Climate Change, Patricia Espinosa, is expected to speak at this special ceremony at COP 26.
“While we have the Paris Agreement as our guide, and nations and businesses promising to work together to keep us moving forward, people often need to see practical examples of what real climate action looks like before they act,” she said.
“That’s why the work of these award winners is so important. This is what inspiring leadership looks like.
“These awards are about more than shining a light on climate action; these award-winning projects are beacons guiding us towards a better future,” said Espinosa.
This year’s award-winning projects demonstrate leadership on climate change by nations, businesses, investors, cities, regions and civil society as a whole. They range from the world’s first renewable island community in Denmark to the leading debt-financing provider for distributed solar energy in Africa to a London-based fashion house focused on environmentally, ethically and socially conscious style for a sustainable future. Other winning activities include a UK crowd-funding platform enabling people to support home solar in sub-Saharan Africa and Mexico’s first metropolitan-level climate action plan.
The 2021 winning projects were selected by UN Climate Change’s International Advisory Panel.
“Everyone has a role to play when it comes to confronting the climate crisis,” said chair of the advisory panel, Gabrielle Ginér. “The recipients of the UN Global Climate Action Awards are stepping up with the kind of bold and courageous leadership we need to see much more of to avoid the ever-worsening impacts of climate change.”
These 11 award-winning projects fall within three focus areas of climate neutral now, financing for climate friendly investment and climate leaders. The winning projects will be showcased at a series of special events during the second week of COP 26, between 9-11 November 2021. The schedule for these events is available online.
The 2021 winners of the UN Global Climate Action Award are Climate Neutral Now, Microsoft Global, Taylors of Harrogate, ICA Gruppen, House of Baukjen, SunFunder, Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance, Energise Africa and Self-reliance and Solar in the West Bank & Gaza in the Climate Neutral and Financing for Climate Friendly Investment categories.
In the Climate Leaders’ category, the City of Paris, Samsø (Denmark) and Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara (Mexico) were recognised.
