Three transformative UK low carbon innovation projects are in the spotlight for their work transforming farming, making homes energy efficient, and protecting communities from flooding. They have all been announced as winners of the 2023 Ashden Awards.

This week the people behind them will meet investors, policy makers and other climate innovators from around the world in London, making connections that help them to share and accelerate their climate solutions.

The ‘heroes of the new green economy forging ahead’

The winners all emphasised collaboration as central to their projects’ successes, as well as the close involvement and support of people in the local community. Ashden, a charity that focuses on showcasing and sharing climate solutions from the UK and the global South, runs the awards every year with a strong focus on community benefits, scalability and replicability.

Dr Ashok Sinha, CEO of Ashden, highlighted the dangers of political divisiveness and the need for collaboration in climate action, as he opened Tuesday’s ceremony at London’s Royal Geographical Society.

He said: “We have seen recently our own government here in the UK open up a new climate battlefront in the culture wars; playing to the politics of division when the politics of consensus and collaboration of partnership is what has got us so far and what we’ll need more of in the future.

“So thank goodness for the innovators like these Ashden Award winners. They are not waiting for government action, they are not waiting for an international agreement. They are forging ahead.

“They are building a better world day by day, community by community. They are the true pioneers, heroes of the new green economy, and we are here today to pay tribute to everything they have achieved.”

‘Sharing knowledge is everything’

In the Cotswolds, FarmED is helping shape the future of the UK’s agricultural sector by raising awareness of regenerative farming through a series of nature-friendly techniques that enrich the soil while removing CO2 from the atmosphere. FarmED takes a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. Their training and regenerative agriculture techniques have the potential to radically lower emissions linked to agriculture, protect and replenish biodiversity and restore the health of our soil and landscape.

Ian Wilkinson, CEO of FarmEd said: “We have become disconnected from the farmers that grow food for us, and that is a real barrier to change. For me, the solution is reconnection. Knowledge is everything, and the key to knowledge is the people who visit FarmED – the fields – and tell others.”

Flood prevention brings multiple benefits

In North London, Enfield Council and environmental charity Thames21 protect communities from extreme weather by bringing new life to neglected waterways. Local volunteers are at the heart of the action, restoring rivers and creating new woods and wetlands. This approach means that as well as dealing with flood dangers and pollution, the scheme brings residents better health and access to nature.

Sam Bentley-Toon, Engagement Manager at Thames 21 said: “Enfield Council and Thames21 are very different organisations, but we have managed to forge a partnership where we can combine our skills and achieve outcomes that we never imagined were possible at the start.”

Heating and carbon reduction – the perfect mix

The Housing Associations’ Charitable Trust is tackling the financing challenge of energy efficiency in UK social housing. Through this unique initiative, businesses and other organisations that want to meet their own climate commitments can buy credits equivalent to their emissions, and those credits fund energy efficiency upgrades to social housing. This means people can benefit from extra insulation, replacements for draughty doors and windows, and modern heating technology.

Antoine Pellet, Head of Retrofit Credits at HACT, who collaborated with PNZ Carbon on their retrofit carbon credit programme: “For us, retrofit credit is about impact, it is about how we accelerate the retrofitting of social homes, so people on low incomes who are experiencing the worst cost of living crisis in living memory, can afford to heat their homes. And whilst we do that, there will be huge reductions in carbon.

‘Change comes from working together’

Guest speaker, climate justice organiser Tori Tsui, was interviewed on stage by climate solutionist, author and writer, Solitaire Townsend. Tori said: “So much of what the awardees are demonstrating is a testament to being great changemakers. The first thing is working in community – change isn’t going to be achieved by one individual alone. I know in the climate space we like to uphold sole individuals as solutions to very complex problems – but the reality is that change comes from us working together, it comes from collaboration and collective practice. The winners tonight are a clear demonstration of that.”

The UK winners were joined by representatives from winning organisations from Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Cameroon and India – all celebrated in the Awards for driving radical progress in tackling the biggest climate challenges – in clean energy, natural climate solutions and agriculture.

All receive grants, global publicity, and connection to funders, investors and partners that can help them create even more impact.