The first-ever COM+ Climate Change Communications Award has been won by a Chinese environmental NGO. The Shanshui Center for Nature and Society scooped the award, worth US $10,000, from a field of nominees drawn from around the globe, for a large scale "carbon neutral" event it organised in China to raise public awareness about the importance of conservation.
Working with Conservation International, Shanshui Centre for Nature and Society developed an inititative called "For our Natural Splendour, Gateway to Music" which helped organisers of a popular classical music series in Beijing find ways to offset the CO2 emissions created by the concerts' use of electricity and by local and international travel to the concerts by performers, technicians and audience members. The center planted trees in southwest China and informed the audiences on how to use a carbon calculator to estimate their individual usage. It also encouraged them to make pledges to reduce their carbon emissions.
Nominations for the award were reviewed by a panel comprising Robert Bisset, European spokesperson for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); Jo Weir, Reuters Foundation's training programme director; and Sergio Jellinek, External Affairs Manager, Latin America and the Caribbean, World Bank. The award was then presented to Mr Enki Tan, representing Conservation International-Shanshui's Board, by Katherine Sierra, Vice President, Sustainable Development, World Bank at a ceremony in Bali, Indonesia, on December 12. Congratulating the center for its "excellent campaign", she noted: "Communications campaigns of this kind are extremely valuable in increasing public understanding of the reality of climate change and the importance of taking action to mitigate impact."
Dr Lu Zhi, Director, Conservation International-Shansui, said: "This campaign occurred at just the right time for China because it created momentum for greater awareness of climate change and conserving nature as the nation prepares to host the 2008 Olympic Games."
COM+ is a partnership between international organisations, media agencies and communications professionals committed to using communications to advance the sustainable development agenda. Reuters Foundation is one of its partners. The Climate Change prize is one of two Communications Awards introduced by COM+ in 2007. The other is for a campaign communicating science for people and the planet.
More details are available at www.complusalliance.org or www.cgiar.org
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