People & Planet wins Best Campaign 2007 at British Environment and Media Awards

9th November 2007

Last night at the British Environmental Media Awards People & Planet, Britain's leading student campaign network, won the coveted British Environmental Media Campaign of the Year. The award was given for the Green League 2007, which ranked UK universities by environmental performance.

The Green League was commended for its strong strategy, clear objectives and imaginative tactics:

"It [the Green League] succeeded in dragging environmental issues in from the fringes and making them a central concern for many Vice Chancellors.

As a result, the judges look forward to seeing a real shift in the environmental performance of universities in the coming years."

Alistair McGowan, Host, British Environment and Media Awards

Back in June 2007 People & Planet launched its first ever Green League to highlight the environmental performance of British universities. The Green League celebrated the environmental success stories of the sector, and exposed those universities that have yet to live up to their environmental responsibilities.

The Green League ranked all 122 British universities - awarding them with a First, 2:1, 2:2, Third, or Fail - based on eight different environmental criteria, both policy and performance related. Much of the information for this was gathered through the use of freedom for information requests. Leeds Met, Plymouth and Hertfordshire topped the leader board.

"The Green League shows that universities have the potential to take effective action to tackle climate change. However, it also exposes a worrying level of inaction across the sector. People & Planet believes that Higher Education should lead the way in fighting climate change, using the knowledge and expertise within the sector to develop a sector-wide carbon reduction strategy. Universities are not only critical for their direct emissions and impact on the environment, but for their influence on the next generation."

Bronwen Thomas, Climate Change Campaigns Officer, People & Planet

"At People & Planet we are best known for our grassroots student activism. This, combined with the influence and reach of the Times Higher Education Supplement, an authoritative national and sector-relevant newspaper, made the Green League a hard-hitting and effective national campaign."

James Lloyd, Head of Campaigns, People & Planet

People & Planet hopes to be able to build on this achievement in the way previous winners, such as the Soil Association, have done. The Green League 2008 will be published next year to continue to challenge poor environmental performance, and give strength to those within university communities who are working hard to achieve change. The aim is to establish competition between universities to drive environmental standards up and carbon emissions down.