The awards offer a unique opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women in driving forward the green economy, writes Cecilia Keating
Celebrating the achievements of women working in the green economy is more important now than ever before.
In the wake of President Trump's election victory and the new US administration's moves to gut federal DEI programmes and policies, corporate diversity and inclusion initiatives have come under scrutiny in boardrooms around the world. Climate action is also taking a shellacking, as the White House gears up to leave the Paris Agreement, roll back environmental regulations and presses ahead with mass layoffs at federal weather and climate agencies.
Some of these worrying trends have crossed the Atlantic, and there are not unreasonable fears that the White House's repudiation of climate and gender action will ripple across the corporate world.
Some high profile companies have already bent the knee to Trump's world view by ditching DEI programmes and downgrading climate action. Others have defiantly insisted they will stick with strategies they regard to be in their long term interests. Many more have opted to stand by their DEI and environmental programmes, but to talk less about them in public.
Green businesses are at particular risk of being caught in the crossfire, as Trump and his allies step up their attacks on anything and everything they regard as 'woke'. After all, climate policies and diversity and inclusion initiatives are seen by many as key ingredients for the future prosperity and growth of the green economy.
BusinessGreen is not the first, nor will it be the last, to observe that tackling the barriers to women's participation and progression in 'green' industries is not only a moral obligation, it could also play a crucial role in tackling a looming green skills gap.
For several years now, experts have warned the UK's net zero transition could be hobbled by a skills shortage in many industries that require major transformations over the years ahead. From construction to transport, and agriculture and land use to energy and heavy industry, tens of thousands of green workers need to be trained if low-carbon technologies are going to be successfully delivered at scale.
The stark reality is the majority of the industries that are expected to swell as the net zero transition gathers pace are dominated by men. This is not a UK-specific predicament; consulting giant BCG has estimated that - if current workforce trends hold - just a quarter of green jobs around the world will be held by women by 2030.
Increasing women's representation and participation in the workplace is also key for organisational success. Countless reports have highlighted how companies benefit from a workforce that has diverse perspectives and mixed experiences. The green economy, whose fundamental premise rests on replacing legacy technologies and transforming traditional ways of doing business, understands the advantages of challenging the norm.
In industrial revolutions of the past, women were not fairly compensated or recognised for their work, nor given equal opportunities to benefit from the reshaping of the economy. Green businesses today have an opportunity to do things differently as they push forward the most consequential industrial revolution in history.
The Women in Green Business Awards were launched last year to celebrate the companies and individuals working to make the UK's low-carbon economy more inclusive. We were blown away by the response - we received hundreds of entries, from hydrogen researchers to heat pump engineers, and innovative green start-ups to 100-year old corporations. On the night of the inaugural awards ceremony, nearly 400 people joined us to celebrate the achievements of the many inspiring women who are working every day to drive forward the green economy and tackle environmental challenges.
If anything those environmental challenges have become even more pronounced in the past 12 months, which is why we're delighted to be able to once again showcase and celebrate the many brilliant women working right across the green economy.
To coincide with International Women's Day this weekend, nominations for this year's Women in Green Business Awards are now open. If there is someone you feel is deserving of recognition - be it a colleague, mentor, partner, or yourself - please do take the time to nominate them. Nominations and entries are free of charge and they help ensure the awards really are celebrating those women who are at the heart of the success of so many inspiring green businesses. Following the nomination process, nominees will be invited to submit entries, which will then go forward in a short list to be considered by our panel of expert judges ahead of a prestigious awards ceremony on the night of October 8th in central London.
As 'DEI' becomes a dirty acronym in certain circles, climate diplomacy comes under strain, and green businesses face continued economic headwinds, we hope this year's awards will once again be a moment to celebrate the businesses and individuals that are working to not only ensure the net zero transition accelerates, but that this time it also brings with it the half of the population that has too often been marginalised in previous economic transformations.
Cecilia Keating is chair of the judges for the Women in Green Business Awards.
She is the science section editor at Carbon Brief and was previously the features editor at BusinessGreen where she co-founded the Women in Green Business Awards.
