Founded in 2008, the GREEN AWARDS have become the most significant prize in sustainability globally. Every year, we bring together experts and celebrities to pay tribute to the most innovative projects in green technology across a range of categories. From groundbreaking start-ups, institutions and established companies to outstanding personalities and innovative young minds – we honor and give more visibility to the modern-time heroes who dedicate their lives and careers to tackling climate change and making a real difference.
Explore all of our previous international GREEN AWARDS winners and nominees.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Mamphela Ramphele is a world-renowned figure with an outstanding career as an activist, medical doctor, academic, businesswoman, and political thinker. She has been Co-President of the Club of Rome since October 2018 until end of term in 2023. She is the Co-Founder & Global Brand Ambassador of ReimagineSA since 2016. Previously, she served as a Managing Director at the World Bank from 2000 to 2004 and as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town, South Africa, from 1996 to 2000. She obtained a medical degree from the University of Natal in 1968, where she co-founded the Black Consciousness Movement with Steve Biko and became involved in the South African Students Association (SASO). To learn more and follow Dr Mamphela Ramphele work, visit her website mamphela-ramphele.com
Category: Youngster
Fatou Jeng has 7 years’ experience in the climate and gender space and currently serves as one of the appointed youth climate advisors to the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres. She founded the youth-led NGO Clean Earth Gambia and co-led the Women and Gender working group of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Youth Constituency (YOUNGO). Clean Earth Gambia is one of the biggest youth-led environmental non-profit organisations in The Gambia. Over the past years, they have mobilised and worked with over 3000 children and young Gambians in the protection of our environment by conducting a series of capacity-building training programmes and planted over 35,000 with partners. You can support this incredible organisation through their Gofundme Website
Category: Milestone
ASTERRA provides geospatial data-driven platform solutions for water utilities, government agencies, and the greater infrastructure industry in the areas of roads, rails, dams, and mining. ASTERRA services use Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar data from satellites, artificial intelligence, and proprietary technology to turn this data into large-scale decision support tools. Since 2017, ASTERRA solutions have been used to detect underground water leaks and monitor soil moisture in over 64 countries, saving over 368 billion gallons of potable water, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 235,520 metric tons, and saving 920,000 MWH of energy. Explore more about ASTERRA on their website asterra.io.
Category: Pioneer
Sublime Systems is on a mission to have a swift and massive impact on global CO2 emissions by decarbonizing cement. Unlike net zero solutions that rely on carbon capture, Sublime’s fully electrified, “true-zero” approach avoids the industry’s legacy fossil-fueled kilns and CO2-heavy limestone feedstock. The fully electrified electrochemical process produces Sublime Cement™ that meets performance-based standards and works with existing concrete ready-mix. Third party life cycle assessments have shown Sublime’s manufacturing can reduce the global warming potential of cement in the U.S. by over 90%. Learn more through their website sublime-systems.com
Inspirational Achievement Award
The GREEN AWARDS will present US model and climate activist Arizona Muse with the Inspirational Achievement Award, which is given to individuals who have made a significant contribution to creating positive change in their industry.
Through her work with organisations such as Greenpeace, The Sustainable Angle and UN organizations including UNDP, UNEP and UNFAO, she has become a recognized voice inspiring others to adopt more sustainable practices and processes – moving the fashion sector forward for the better. She has also used her influence to raise funds for her charity organization, DIRT, whose mission is to find sustainable solutions for fashion to be no longer part of the problem, but part of the solution. Her unwavering dedication is an inspiration for an entire generation. You can donate directly to her charity on dirt.charity
Category: Innovation
Brilliant Planet is utilizing the potential of algae to permanently and quantifiably sequester carbon at the gigaton scale.Their method is not only ten times more affordable but also ten times faster than legacy algae producers, which allows for affordable carbon removal through algae. The company’s innovative process enables vast quantities of microalgae to grow in open-air pond-based systems in coastal desert areas without the use of freshwater. By harnessing a natural process, the innovative method contributes to the health of both the oceans and the air.
Category: Start-Up
Aiming to change the construction sector, which is responsible for 60% of waste and 40% of CO2 emissions worldwide, Concular is developing a digital ecosystem for circular construction. Beginning in 2012 with Restado, a marketplace to buy and sell materials from deconstruction, Concular has grown to Europe’s largest marketplace for reused materials. As this mainly reached small companies, Concular was founded in 2020 to cater to the professional actors of the construction sector. By digitizing materials in both new and existing buildings and redirecting them into new construction instead of landfilling them, Concular has created closed material loops which help to reduce global CO2 emissions by up to 15% and waste by up to 30%.
Category: Special Award
Rockström is a renowned scientist in the field of global sustainability. He played a key role in developing the Planetary Boundaries framework for human development in an era of rapid global change. With over 25 years of experience in applied water research, he is a leading expert on global water resources. Rockström’s research has influenced policy decisions and he provides scientific guidance to organizations such as the European Commission and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He also advises governments and business networks and holds important positions in various advisory boards and organizations focused on conservation and environmental issues. He is recognized as a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.
Category: Youngster
At the age of 17, Jeremiah Thoronka founded the start-up “Optim Energy” to tackle the challenges of energy poverty and environmental impact in his home country of Sierra Leone. The idea: To use piezoelectric materials and locally sourced energy harvesting technologies to provide energy to low-income households and schools. Piezoelectricity is gained from heat and vibrations. Optim Energy positioned its devices under the pavement, using one of the greatest natural assets of the areas where they were implemented: weather, traffic, and people. A sustainable and affordable system for low-income communities in a region where outside of the urban areas only a minority of the population has access to electricity.
