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Last week we held our second Carbon Literate Organisation Awards at HOME, the worlds’ first Carbon Literate arts venue and Platinum CLO Award winner. The evening was an all-around success as seventeen organisations were accredited with either Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum awards. As well as this, four organisations were awarded a Carbon Literacy Training Organisation accreditation and two people were certified as Carbon Literacy Consultants.

The evening began with a speech from Jon Gilchrist, Executive Director & Deputy Chief Executive of HOME. Jon revealed several of HOME’s actions which have led to them becoming a platinum accredited CLO. Some of their actions include having 100% of their staff being trained in Carbon Literacy, recycling, and a cycle to work scheme.  The speech came to an end by taking a pledge to be single-use plastic free by 2020.

A speech was also given by Cllr Alex Ganotis, Leader of Stockport Council and Chair of the Greater Manchester Low Carbon Hub who spoke about Greater Manchester’s five-year plan for acting against climate change, which was announced at the Greater Manchester Green Summit on the 25^th of March.

The awards were presented by Cllr Alex Ganotis and Dr. Ali Abbas, Chair of The Carbon Literacy Trust. Of the seventeen organisations, many of the award winners are world firsts:

• HOME (the event’s venue) is the world’s first Carbon Literate arts venue
• NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group is the world’s first Carbon Literate health organisation
• Castlefield is the world’s first Carbon Literate financial advisor
• GMMC Environment Agency is the world’s first Carbon Literate government agency
• Unity Trust Bank is the world’s first Carbon Literate Bank
• Electricity North West is the world’s first Carbon Literate power network operator and
• Galliford Try is the world’s first Carbon Literate construction company

Finally, a special award was presented to Beechfield Brands for their consistent support of The Carbon Literacy Project, since its inception in 2011, without which much of The Carbon Literacy Project’s work would not be possible.

It was truly inspiring to see organisations representing a number of different sectors including housing, banking, education, arts, local government, and healthcare. Every organisation awarded has demonstrated a commitment to tackling climate change, supporting their Carbon Literate staff in taking action, and sharing knowledge and best practice around Carbon Literacy within their sector or locality. We were very proud to bring all these organisations and individuals together in one room to celebrate their achievements and their moves closer to the carbon neutral goal.

The following organisations have been accredited as:

Carbon Literate Organisation
Bronze –
Castlefield
Electricity North West
Environment Agency GMMC
Galliford Try Building – North West
Manchester Metropolitan University
Salford City Council
Southway Housing Trust
The Union, Manchester Metropolitan University
Unity Bank Trust

Silver –
Castlefield Partnership
Groundwork MSSTT
NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group
One Manchester
The Broughton Trust

Gold –
Great Places Housing Group
Keep Scotland Beautiful

Platinum –
HOME
 

Carbon Literacy Training Organisation
Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University
Great Places Housing Group
Keep Scotland Beautiful
Museums Development North West
 

Carbon Literacy Consultant
Jane Mörk
Rachel Dunk
 

Special Award
Beechfield Brands
 

“Thanks to the team for putting on the event. We had a great time and we are very pleased to have achieved the Silver award.”
Liz Prestbury, One Manchester

“It was a really inspiring evening, great to see so many people from different sectors come together over a common cause.”
George Bissett, The Union, Manchester Metropolitan University