Category Description
This award is for companies in the financial sector who are trailblazers in sustainability, wielding the power of finance for social and environmental good.
It recognises those who are clear leaders in the field, and who set an example for others to follow, so driving progress across the board.
Judges do not expect perfection across the whole of the business’s activities: they know that embedding sustainability in all aspects of a finance sector operation is a challenging process! But they do expect a company to have a clearly defined goal of shifting its core business towards a genuinely sustainable basis.
They will expect to see measurable outcomes and impacts, as well as clear commitments to future progress, as reflected in the criteria below.
Time Frame: Entries should focus primarily on activity from the past four years. Historical context and earlier work may be included where relevant to demonstrate baselines, legacy impact, or progression.
We request a total word count of 2500 words +/-10% (excl. supporting docs). Any confidential data will be treated as such and only shared with the judging panel.
Criteria
Judges will be looking for evidence of the following points (weighting percentages in brackets):
Business impacts (50%)
How the business drives positive social and environmental outcomes in areas such as:
- Climate action and the energy transition
- Reducing waste and pollution
- Driving the circular economy
- Nature restoration
- Labour and human rights in the workplace and supply chain
- Impact on local communities
- Diversity and inclusion
Engagement (20%)
How it uses its influence to engage with its customers, investors, investees and suppliers on social and environmental issues, to drive greater progress on sustainability.
Integration and leadership (15%)
How it ensures that a commitment to sustainability, to social and environmental progress, is integrated into its core business, reflected in its core values, and embraced and driven by its senior leadership.
Monitoring and reporting (15%)
How it monitors and reports on its social and environmental impact, in line with best practice.
PLEASE NOTE: The criteria listed above are used by judges to evaluate entries. However, you will complete a separate application form with specific questions.
When writing your entry, follow the application form questions while ensuring you address all the criteria listed above. This allows judges to assess all entries consistently.
Accessing the questions: Register or log in to AwardStage (opens 2 February), select your category, and download the PDF of questions. Application questions vary by category and will be available four weeks before entries open. To receive them in advance, please email us.
Are we eligible to enter?
Our awards programme is open to all organisations of any kind… companies large and small, charities, not-for-profits, social enterprises, NGOs, membership and accreditation organisations and government departments including local and county councils. We are all about rewarding sustainability practice – in all its forms. So if your organisation is making a difference, directly or indirectly to people and planet, you’re eligible.
We don’t just recognise businesses that are operating responsibly, or supporting / partnering with worthwhile causes. We also actively encourage entries from organisations that have been specifically set up or adapted to offer a product or service that tackles a social or environmental problem.
Our category descriptions and criteria have been written to guide entrants on what content should be detailed in their entries. However, we do not expect square pegs to fit in round holes… Some of your business activities or dedicated programmes might not fit entirely with any one specific category. In these cases, the descriptions and criteria are open to an element of interpretation and rest assured that our judges will still take into account entries that are strongly aligned with the overall context of the category.
If you have any concerns about the suitability of your entry, or would like to discuss your activities in more detail, we are here to help. Give Karen a call on 07813 718541 or email us.