Significantly greater response to the threats of climate change resulted in the toughest year yet for judges of the Climate Change Leadership Awards, who announced the 10 category winners at a carbon neutral event in Sandton recently.

The Climate Change Leadership Awards (CCLA) has received a record number of entries for the 2011/2012 awards  and judging has now been completed following the deadline for entries of February 10.

Is your New Mobility project moving minds as well as people? Then enter the SMART Mobility EnterPrize competition and you could find yourself moving in new mobility circles at Rio+20, and beyond.

The Climate Change Leadership Awards (CCLA), the first awards in Africa that recognise, reward, motivate and celebrate businesses, communities, youth, schools and individuals, have attracted significant sponsorships and partnerships in 2011 from some of South Africa's leading businesses, non-governmental and not-for-profit organisations.

Plastics|SA, the umbrella body representing the plastics industry of South Africa, was awarded the 2011 Enviropaedia Award for Recycling at the inaugural Eco-Logic Awards ceremony which took place in Cape Town on Saturday evening in partnership with The Greenest Event expo.

We recently participated in our country’s first Green Expo at the CTICC in Cape Town.

Powertech IST Otokon was awarded the Energy Project of the Year at the Southern African Association for Energy Efficiency’s (SAEE) Awards Ceremony last night.

Did you know that in our country all the used PET containers ' your clear beverage and water bottles ' collected for recycling are recycled into local products?

Innovative recycled products including a world first were rewarded recently at the South African Plastics Recycling Organization's (SAPRO) second annual Best Recycled Product Competition award ceremony.  The winners were announced at a gala dinner at the Midrand Conference Centre.  

With rhinos on the brink of extinction, it is no surprise that amazing conservation efforts are attempted in Africa to save them. Enough so to be noticed by an international panel of judges. Raoul du Toit, International Rhino Foundation's African Rhino Programme Coordinator, has received the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize (Africa).

As proven by the Costa Rican Biodiversity Law, exemplary biodiversity legislation can be successfully put into practice. On 25 October, delegates, ministers, decision-makers, media and donors gathered at the Future Policy Award 2010 Ceremony in Nagoya, Japan, to witness the first prize be awarded to Costa Rica and to celebrate the Costa Rican Biodiversity Law as a milestone of excellence in meeting the goals of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. The effects of the law are outstanding: With 26% of its total territory designated as protected areas, Costa Rica is the first developing that succeeded in halting and reversing deforestation. Moreover, the country ranked first in the Happy Planet Index 2009, and is a recognised pioneer in ecotourism.

The Future Policy Award, established by the World Future Council, annually celebrates laws with particularly positive effects on the living conditions of current and future generations. The first award to honour exemplary policies rather than exceptional people on an international level, it highlights solutions, raises public awareness and speeds up policy action towards just, sustainable and peaceful societies. This year's award gala was hosted by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), as an official part of the tenth Conference of the Parties (COP10).

The opening statements were held by Shoichi Kondo, Senior Vice Minister of Environment of Japan, and Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, CBD Executive Secretary, who said: 'By honouring exemplary laws and regulations, by disseminating best practices successful in stopping biodiversity loss and irreversible destruction of our eco-systems, the Future Policy Award 2010 encourages policy action fundamental to the post-2010 biodiversity strategy.' Succeeding Dr. Djoghlaf, Jakob von Uexkull, Founder of the World Future Council and the Right Livelihood Awards, spoke up to the numerous delegates recalling 'that the right rules and legal frameworks help millions of people to do the right thing'.

Praise for Costa Rica

Prof. Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, Director, CISDL, and Chair of the WFC Future Justice Commission, presented the ceremony's highlight when she spoke of the Costa Rican policy as 'a brilliantly comprehensive policy for the respect for all forms of life and for cultural diversity, biodiversity protection and inter- and intragenerational equity', before handing over the Future Policy Award 2010 to His Excellency Mr. Mario Fernandez Silva, Ambassador of the Republic of Costa Rica to Japan. H.E. Mr. Silva expressed deep gratitude and said, 'I am most honoured to accept this prize from the World Future Council. This law integrates biodiversity protection and the sustainable use of biodiversity and it enables us to pass the beautiful natural wealth of Costa Rica on to our future generations.'

Australia, the winner of the Future Policy Silver Award, was introduced by Prof. Motoyuki Suzuki, Chairman, Central Environmental Council of Japan, and WFC Councillor. He stated that 'the Australian Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act jointly with the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act aims to provide the highest level of protection to the marine ecosystems and should be a worldwide standard'. Prof. Suzuki presented the award to Peter Cochrane, Director of National Parks and Head of the CBD Delegation of Australia, who proudly accepted. The Australian law has elevated the region of the Great Barrier Reef to a matter of national environmental significance, while still allowing for sustainable use by such industries as commercial fisheries, recreational fishing and tourism, pioneering the idea of a 'multiple-use' park.

The awarded biodiversity policies from Costa Rica and Australia as well as four further exemplary policies are described in a World Future Council brochure titled 'Celebrating the world's best biodiversity policies'. It is available in print at the Award Ceremony and online at http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/publications.html.

A Brazilian husband-and-wife team of conservationists have won this year's prestigious National Geographic Society/Buffett Award for Leadership in Conservation. To do this, they created a 5,000-acre protected forest reserve and a Ugandan conservation manager who supervises all the protected areas and wildlife reserves in his country.

The South African Plastics Recycling Organisation (SAPRO) and the Plastics Industry's Enviromark have announced the winners of their '100 % Recycled, 100 % Creative' competition at a prize giving event that was held at the Plastics Federation's offices in Midrand earlier today.

If you have a bright energy-saving idea / product or have developed an innovative process to save electricity, you have a chance to win a prestigious eta Award as well as some handsome cash rewards!

The ICC has received a certificate confirming that the Durban International Convention Centre's Environmental Management System complies with the rigorous performance standards set by the International Standards Organisation.

Nedbank has received a 4-star rating for green office design from the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) for its new regional head office currently underway at Menlyn Maine, Africa's first green city.

Two Western Cape winners of the regional SA Productivity Awards, WastePlan (Pty) Ltd and Fair Cape Dairies (Pty) Ltd have done us proud by also winning the national awards in their respective categories of emerging and corporate sectors.

The Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa (IWMSA) KwaZulu-Natal Branch recently held its bi-annual Waste Management Awards evening at the Durban Country Club.