Ed Miliband MP, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan have been shortlisted for the 2024 Political Purpose Awards.
Following the inaugural ceremony in 2023, the awards will recognise the efforts of UK politicians who have championed environmental causes over the last year.
The panel of judges, drawn from across the political spectrum, have selected the shortlist from nominees put forward by the public, environmental journalists and leading NGOs.
Nature 2030, the environmental campaign behind the awards, hopes to incentivise more MPs to devote their time to protecting nature.
Previous winners include Lord Zac Goldsmith for Wildlife Protection and former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas for the Lifetime Achievement Award.
This year’s ceremony is set to take place in September in the House of Commons. For the first time, the awards will also issue wooden spoons to the politicians doing the most to obstruct environmental campaigning.
‘It is an honour to be able to recognise the very best environmental campaigners in UK politics, as well as exposing those who do the most to delay and disrupt the progress we need. We have more new MPs than ever before, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Let’s show the parliamentary class of ‘24 what real environmental campaigning looks like.’
DOMINIC DYER
Chair of Nature 2030
This year’s shortlisted nominees have been selected from the House of Commons and House of Lords, and the Devolved Assemblies.
Multiple nominations for London Mayor Sadiq Khan, Liverpool Mayor Steve Rotheram and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham were submitted by supporting NGOs and sponsors of the awards.
The ‘Animal Welfare’ category, sponsored by Four Paws UK, includes nominations for Ruth Jones MP and newly appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Baroness Sue Hayman.
Mayors Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan have received nominations in the ‘Pollution Waste & Air’ category, alongside former Green Party MP Caroline Lucas.
For work in the ‘Rivers & Seas’ category, sponsored by River Action, nominees include Liverpool Mayor Steve Rotheram and former Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron.
The ‘Habitats, Biodiversity & Green Space’ category, sponsored by Plantlife, sees nominations for former Conservative MP Philip Dunne and Labour’s Alex Sobel.
Ecotricity’s sponsored category, ‘Green Energy & Renewables’, includes nominations for Labour’s former leader and Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband and former Conservative cabinet minister Chris Skidmore.
Finally, this year’s additional category ‘Green Council of the Year’, sponsored by Keep Britain Tidy, features Calderdale Council, Kirklees Council and Stroud District Council.
Alongside these six categories, Nature 2030 will honour one politician with the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’, which will be announced on the awards night.
‘Ecotricity has long been at the forefront of the green industrial revolution. Our mission has expanded from Energy to include Transport and Food – the big three issues driving the overlapping crises the World faces – the climate, wildlife and human health crises. The green transition is one of the most important issues of our times. If we get this right, the economic and social benefits will be profound.
‘We have the technology; the economics are on our side and increasingly the people but we need politicians to lead. These awards are a great opportunity to recognise those making a real difference – and those pulling in the wrong direction.’
DALE VINCE OBE
Founder of Ecotricity
The judging panel features Dale Vince OBE, founder of Ecotricity; Sonul Badiani-Hamment, country director at FOUR PAWS UK; James Wallace, CEO of River Action; Nicola Hutchinson, director of Conservation at Plantlife; Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, CEO of Keep Britain Tidy; Fiona Harvey, environment editor at the Guardian; Tori Tsui, climate justice activist and advisor at Fossil Fuel Treaty; Dominic Dyer, Nature 2030 chair and John Higginson, founder of Higginson Strategy.
UK’s first environmental politician of the year award launched.
London Mayor and Green MP lead nominations for environmental politician of the year award.
Caroline Lucas MP wins lifetime achievement award at the inaugural Political Purpose Awards.
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