The International Energy Globe Awards (the World Awards for Sustainability) have been awarded by the Energy Globe Foundation annually to recognise projects that 'make careful and economical use of resources and employ alternative energy sources.' The winners, in the categories of Earth, Fire, Water, Air and Youth, are selected by a panel including members from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, World Bank and the European Renewable Energy Council. The awards were an initiative by Austrian engineer and environmentalist Wolfgang Neumann.
It distinguishes projects regionally, nationally and globally every year since 1999.
The goal of the Energy Globe Award is to create the necessary awareness concerning solutions to our environmental problems and to demonstrate that each of us can make a positive contribution. The winning ENERGY GLOBE projects serve as examples, which are presented on the Energy Globe website and in the Energy Globe project database. The monetary prize for first place in the international award is 10 000 euro per category.
The (inter)national ENERGY GLOBE winner projects are honored at festive ceremonies and presented in the media and on television. Large-scale awards were held in 2007 and 2008 in the Plenary Hall of the European Parliament in Brussels with the support of prominent people from all over the world. 2009 the Energy Globe gala was the opening event of the informal meeting of the EU Environmental Ministers in Prague. 2010 Energy Globe together with UNEP has opened the UN World Environment Day in Kigali/Rwanda. In 2011 Energy Globe had a record participation of more than 1000 entries from 110 countries. In all some 6000 projects have been submitted for the Energy Globe Award.
The ENERGY GLOBE Jury is headed by Maneka Gandhi (Member of Parliament), former Indian Minister for Environment.
International personalities such as former Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan, former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev, the President of the European Parliament and EU Commission, world stars like actor Martin Sheen, “Columbo” Peter Falk, Bollywood star Aamir Khan, musicians like Alanis Morissette, Dionne Warwick, Zucchero, Robin Gibb (Bee Gees), etc., offer their services for Energy Globe.
Famous quotes containing the words energy, globe and/or award:
“After the planet becomes theirs, many millions of years will have to pass before a beetle particularly loved by God, at the end of its calculations will find written on a sheet of paper in letters of fire that energy is equal to the mass multiplied by the square of the velocity of light. The new kings of the world will live tranquilly for a long time, confining themselves to devouring each other and being parasites among each other on a cottage industry scale.”
—Primo Levi (1919–1987)
“When the galactic sea was sucked
And all the dry seabed unlocked,
I sent my creature scouting on the globe,
That globe itself of hair and bone....”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“The award of a pure gold medal for poetry would flatter the recipient unduly: no poem ever attains such carat purity.”
—Robert Graves (1895–1985)