Leaders in the drive to cut carbon emissions from road transport have been announced at a prestigious ceremony in London.
The LowCVP Low Carbon Champions Awards recognise best practice in key areas from vehicle manufacturing and fleet operation to the development of products and services that reduce greenhouse gases from road transport operations.
The winners were announced at the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) Gala Reception, held at One Birdcage Walk, Westminster, at an event held in association with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE).
The Awards presentation was preceded by a keynote speech from Tony Juniper, independent environmental adviser and writer and former Executive Director of Friends of the Earth. Tony Juniper emphasised the importance of leadership in the face of the climate challenge. He said: “It’s all too easy to take a back-seat on this agenda. We need much more leadership. The winners of these LowCVP Awards have demonstrated leadership in their various fields; we need more individuals and organisations like them.”
Greg Archer, Managing Director of the LowCVP, said: “These Awards recognise best practice and innovation, highlighting leadership in accelerating the shift to lower carbon vehicles and fuels.
“The number and quality of entries was even higher than last year which shows the level of energy and enthusiasm that exists to create new markets for lower carbon vehicles.”
Philippa Oldham, Head of Transport at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said: “The shift to low carbon vehicles has the potential to be the greatest automotive development since the internal combustion engine. However for this to happen we need innovative, forward-thinking businesses to drive progress.
“That’s why it’s so important that we recognise, through these awards, those British businesses that are building a low carbon vehicle industry in this country, helping to put the UK at the very forefront of this next technological revolution.”
The Awards are accredited by the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) which means they meet a robust set of criteria and by doing so demonstrate high quality and validity.
In a rigorous judging process – involving 28 senior individuals from across the range of organisations with a stake in this agenda – a total of 44 companies and organisations made the Awards shortlist.
The winner of the prestigious overall award was Nissan GB. In making the award the judges said that Nissan has been at the forefront of EV and battery technology development and its efforts have culminated in the launch of the ground-breaking fully electric Nissan LEAF in March 2011.
Individual Awards were presented to Stephen Joseph, Chief Executive of the Campaign for Better Transport (formerly Transport 2000) and to Richard Parry-Jones, Industry Chair of the Automotive Council, who spent 38 years at Ford Motor Company.
Other Low Carbon Champions winners were Coca Cola Enterprises Limited, Gasrec, WhipCar, Iveco, Flybrid Systems LLP, Element Energy and Stagecoach Group.
