Big bucks for green technology

If prize money is one yardstick for measuring how seriously the world views ‘the environment’, then we’d better watch Finland’s Millennium Technology Prize. Curiously named it may be, as a biennial award with its first winner due to be announced in 2004. But there’s no doubting that it’s well endowed. The princely sum of 1 million euros is on offer - worth having, whatever your views on the currency.

There’s no guarantee that the first winner of the Millennium Technology Prize will come from the world of environmental technology, but chances are good. The prize has been established to act as an “international acknowledgement of outstanding technological achievement aimed at promoting the sustainable development of society and the quality of life”. Technological developments in four areas are eligible: energy and the environment; communication and information; new materials and processes; and healthcare and life sciences.

Twenty years ago - even 10 - it would have been highly unlikely, possibly unimaginable, for so much money to be awarded to a green technology solution. For the big beasts in the green awards jungle (see below), a fifth of that sum is pretty much top banana. - Erin Gill

Prize Giving

Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy
Five awards of £30,000, two of them earmarked for UK projects (closing date for submissions for the 2004 UK award is 15 January).

St Andrews Prize for the Environment
$30,000 Seed funding for individuals, teams or groups to develop practical, innovative solutions.

UNEP Sasakawa Environment Prize
$200,000
For individuals who have made an “outstanding global contribution to the management and protection of the environment”.

National Grid Community 21 Awards
Up to £10,000 per category
For sustainable development initiatives by local authorities in England and Wales.

Stockholm Water Prize
$150,000
For individuals or teams that have worked to achieve water preservation and greater respect for water resources.

Goldman Environmental Prize
$125,000 x 6 ($750,000 awarded each year) Awarded to grassroots environmentalists.

Rolex Awards for Enterprise -
environment category $100,000 (biannual)
Projects that “protect, preserve or improve our natural and physical surroundings”.

Whitley Awards
Up to £25,000 per category.
A series of nature conservation awards from the Whitley Laing foundation.

Sting and Trudie Styler Award for the Environment and Human Rights
£30,000 For community-based conservation work. Administered by the Whitley Awards.

Big prizes win attention and provide the kind of funding that can really make a difference. But smaller prizes also proliferate, often operating on a regional or local basis or focusing on a specific business sector or environmental issue. From the Crawley Green Business Awards to the UK Awards for Green Chemical Technology, there are accolades out there. One good UK database is environmentawards.net

30 November 2003

Erin Gill