City businesses who go above and beyond to make the Square Mile an even cleaner and more sustainable place were recognised today (22 February) at London’s top environmental awards.

The Clean City Awards – organised by the City of London Corporation – celebrated its 30^th anniversary this year and brought together dozens of business leaders with a shared passion for improving the environment.

The 2024 award categories and winners were:

• Air Quality & Climate Action – Savills (20 Fenchurch Street) for saving 3,780kw of energy across 13 months as part of their ‘Go Dark’ project to reduce out-of-hours light pollution.  
• Communications & Engagement – CBRE (The St. Botolph Building) for organising multiple engagement events throughout the year, including a beach clean, and introducing an electronic recycling dashboard to inspire employees to take action against climate change at work with outstanding results.
• Moving towards a Circular Economy – Barings and Nomura (joint winners). Barings invested in a special piece of machinery to compost around 78,000 catering gloves and created a network with local organisations so they can pass on additional compost. Nomura reduced their general waste by 39% since 2019/20 and now leases its IT equipment, saving six tonnes of carbon in one year alone.
• Becoming a Plastic-free City – CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP for working with their partners, Vegware, to create soil from compostable disposables such as knives, forks and napkins that is returned to the site for use on their ‘green’ rooftop.
• Chairman’s Cup (Large) – Addleshaw Goddard for reducing their internal mail service by 131,000 miles per year by switching to digital printing and carrying out a majority of business deliveries by bike.
• Chairman’s Cup (Small) – BE Offices (45 Beech Street) for increasing their volunteer uptake by a staggering 528% to help with community gardening and beach clean projects, and helping three other London branches reduce emissions from their offices.

Chair of the City Corporation’s Port Health and Environmental Services Committee, Mary Durcan, said:

“For three decades, we’ve been celebrating City businesses who are leading the way when it comes to cutting waste, and reusing, and recycling. Things have come a long way since we started our mission in 1994.

“Back then, the concept of recycling was still a relatively new topic. But, over the years, people have become increasingly focussed on making a real difference to the planet and going even further to improve air quality or reduce the number of single-use plastics. And not just at home, but at work, too.

“The Clean City Awards scheme provides a unique network for businesses-owners in the Square Mile to access the tools and resources they need to make more environmentally friendly decisions about their own organisations.

“These choices, are not only beneficial to people who work for these companies, but also the many millions of people who live in, work in, and visit the City.”

Any business within the Square Mile can apply to become part of the scheme. Membership for the 2024 to 2025 scheme is now open and can be made by visiting www.ccaslondon.co.uk.

Benefits of joining the scheme include being supported, recognised and rewarded for environmental performance, invites to best practice meetings, networking opportunities, and attendance at the annual award ceremony.

The scheme also supports the City of London’s ambitious Climate Action Strategy which commits the organisation to achieving net zero carbon emissions in its own operations by 2027 and the achievement of net zero for the whole Square Mile by 2040.

The City Corporation has slashed its own annual carbon emissions by 66% and energy consumption by 21% since 2018 and has been using 100% renewable electricity since the same year. 

In 2020, it agreed a £40 million deal with international energy provider Voltalia to buy all the electricity produced by a new solar farm, which provides over half of the City Corporation’s electricity, saving over £3 million in energy costs per year.

The organisation is the first UK authority to run a fully zero-emission fleet of refuse vehicles and aims to have a fully electric vehicle fleet by 2025.

It also manages over 11,000 acres of green space across London and south east England which remove an estimated 16,000 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere a year, equivalent to 44% of its annual carbon footprint.

ENDS

Notes to editors

The City of London Corporation is the governing body of the Square Mile dedicated to a vibrant and thriving City, supporting a diverse and sustainable London within a globally-successful UK – www.cityoflondon.gov.uk.

The Clean City Awards Scheme is run by the City of London Corporation to help drive sustainable business. It exists to help City of London businesses improve in the areas of air quality and climate action, communication and engagement around sustainability, resource efficiency and a move towards circular economy practices, and a transition towards a plastic free city.

More information about the Clean City Awards scheme can be found on our website www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/waste-and-recycling/commercial-waste/the-clean-city-awards-scheme.