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Carbon Literacy isn’t just helping organisations reduce their carbon footprint; it’s helping them win industry recognition for doing so. Organisations across the UK and beyond embedding Carbon Literacy are consistently recognised for leadership, innovation, and organisational impact. Awards aren’t the only measures of success, but they do show one thing: embedding climate knowledge, inspiring action, and creating a culture of sustainability get noticed. And in today’s world, that kind of leadership matters.

Over the past year, organisations delivering Carbon Literacy have received some of the most prestigious awards within their sectors, and the number continues to grow. Let’s take a look at the organisations that have turned Carbon Literacy into award-winning action.

Autotrader – Best Sustainability Initiative of the Year 2025

Autotrader continues to lead on climate action in the automotive industry. In October 2025, Autotrader was awarded the Best Sustainability Initiative of the Year at the GlobalData Automotive Europe Awards 2025 for continued innovation in sustainability, supported through its commitment to Carbon Literacy. Their Carbon Literacy Toolkit for the Automotive Industry helps individuals and businesses weave climate awareness into everyday decisions. To date, over 7,400 participants across 332 organisations have completed the training, with almost 15,000 pledged actions and an estimated saving of 27,000 tonnes of CO₂e.

This follows previous awards, including the award for Outstanding Contribution to the Motor Industry, presented at the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) Annual Dinner in March 2023 and the Company Award for Sustainability at The Car Finance Awards in May 2022.

Manchester Metropolitan University – Advance HE Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence 2025

Manchester Metropolitan University also won national acclaim for its pioneering approach to Carbon Literacy. In August 2025, it received prestigious recognition in the Advance HE Teaching Excellence Awards, where the Carbon Literacy programme was awarded a Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence.

The university had previously been honoured in 2019 with the Tomorrow’s Employees Award, which recognises initiatives that prepare students to take sustainable action in their future workplaces, shaping organisations and society for the better.

Barnsley College – Green Gown Awards 2025 Trifecta

Barnsley College has equally been causing ripples in post-16 education, winning three awards at the prestigious Green Gown Awards in November 2025. Now in their twenty-first year, the awards celebrate sustainability innovation and leadership across the UK and Ireland. This triple win showcases the college’s success in embedding a culture of sustainability among its students, staff and operations through Carbon Literacy.

“Embedding Carbon Literacy into our Sustainability Strategy has unlocked the potential for all of our staff to become champions for sustainability within their roles and pass this essential learning on to students. We have been recognised in several award categories for our efforts since much of what we’ve done is pioneering, and it’s fantastic to see many other further education providers replicating our training model. Part of the Barnsley College culture is to transform lives and break down barriers to action, which is what Carbon Literacy is all about and why it works so well for us.” – Sasha Beswick, Head of Sustainability, Barnsley College.

DP World – Global Sustainability Awards 2025 Editor’s Choice Award

Meanwhile, DP World, a global leader in smart logistics, was presented with the Editor’s Choice Award at the Global Sustainability Awards in September 2025. The award recognises the organisation’s standout sustainability leadership, innovation and verified progress across complex value chains. Carbon Literacy is part of DP World’s science-aligned decarbonisation strategy and low-carbon logistics initiatives. For example, offering financial incentives to encourage customers to switch to biofuels, with Carbon Literacy training a prior requirement for customer staff.

Alliance Leisure – Investors in the Environment Awards Low Carbon Transport Champion 2025

Another organisation to receive recognition is Alliance Leisure, the UK’s leading leisure development partner, which was named Low Carbon Transport Champion at the Investors in the Environment (iiE) Awards in October 2025. The award recognises Alliance Leisure’s 47% reduction in car travel emissions in the last year and the growth of its electric fleet from 0% in 2021 to 41% in 2025. These results were enabled by behaviour change towards travel, supported by Alliance Leisure’s Carbon Literacy training programme for staff.

In Previous Years…

Compass Group was named Hospitality Firm of the Year at the Green Business Awards in 2024 for its ambitious and sector-leading transition plan. Its foundation actively supports Carbon Literacy training for SMEs in the food value chain, thereby supporting the decarbonisation drive across the sector.

Nottingham Trent University (NTU) has also led the way in the Higher Education sector: its Carbon Literacy Training for Educators, Communities, Organizations and Students (CLT-ECOS) won the Sustainability category at the Wharton-QS Reimagine Education Awards in 2021. Previously in 2019, NTU was recognised at the Green Gown Awards as it picked up Outstanding Leadership Team of the Year, an award voted live by attendees in recognition of their exceptional efforts towards sustainability.

Manchester Museum, in partnership with Museum Development North West, launched the Carbon Literacy for Museums Toolkit in January 2022. The project subsequently won the Promotion of Environmental Sustainability Award at the Manchester Culture Awards in the latter half of that year, recognising its innovative response to embedding climate awareness across museum staff and programming. The Roots and Branches programme was awarded Sustainable Project of the Year at the Museums + Heritage Awards 2024.

The first Carbon Literate arts venue, HOME, was recognised in 2019 at the third annual Julie’s Bicycle Creative Green Awards, winning Best Multi-Arts Centre. Also in 2019, Opera North received an award for Best Newcomer at the Creative Green Awards, which showcased the commitment of the organisation to greener operations.

Coronation Street has a long history of winning awards, but its Carbon Literacy programme helped it to win the notable honour at the 2019 Observer Ethical Business Awards in the category of Film and TV, for its commitment to being an ethical and sustainable show and normalising sustainable behaviour.

From museums to TV productions, to hospitality and logistics, Carbon Literacy is helping organisations embed sustainability at the heart of their operations , and gain well-deserved recognition along the way.

Contact us to start your journey towards recognition.