Green awards season returns (hopefully)

It's back - hopefully, all being well, touch wood.

We've this week announced that the BusinessGreen Leaders Awards 2021 are scheduled to take place on the evening of September 22nd and the intention is that the annual ceremony can return to The Brewery in central London. As such, we'd love to hear from you and your peers so that our 11th annual awards can both showcase and celebrate the brilliance of the green economy throughout this most challenging of years.

Obviously with reports again indicating that the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow could be delayed once more in response to escalating global pandemic risks, our slightly more modest event planning comes with certain caveats. Any physical awards would, of course, be subject to the latest Covid-security protocols and we'll be working on contingency plans that ensure we can announce the winners virtually this autumn if required.

However, with the UK gradually easing its lockdown conditions and virtually the entire population due to be vaccinated by the summer there are reasons to hope that a degree of normality will have returned by the autumn, even if the global situation continues to present challenges for COP26 planners.

And if that is the case, then it is vital that normality includes the promotion of the green businesses that will be at the heart of any effort to deliver on the government's 'build back better' agenda. Indeed, if COP26 is deferred again it becomes more important than ever that the corporate and investor momentum that has been building in support of the net zero transition is maintained.

Part of that momentum is provided by demonstrating to as wide an audience as possible how sustainable, responsible, and net zero businesses are not just a pipe dream, rather they are the new normal. Both the BusinessGreen Leaders Awards, and the Net Zero Festival of which it is a part, are primarily designed to provide a platform that helps showcase the pace and scale of this green industrial revolution.

That is why we're hoping you will submit an entry to this year's awards and join us in dusting off your dinner jackets or ballgowns to celebrate the very best of the green economy this autumn.

A version of this article originally appeared in the BusinessGreen Overnight Briefing newsletter, which is available to all BusinessGreen subscribers.