Ruth Edwards hosted colleagues and campaigners last night in Parliament for the annual Green Heart Hero awards, which celebrate people from politics, business, charities, and volunteer organisations who have gone the extra mile to help create a greener future.
At the event, Ruth was asked to present the Inspiring Local Elected Leader Award, other presenters included former Prime Minister Theresa May and COP26 President, Alok Sharma and the event was hosted by Sky News’ Kay Burley.
The Rushcliffe MP has campaigned on climate issues since her school days and successfully fought to get due diligence measures into the Environment Act. These ensure that British companies cannot use companies that are involved with illegal deforestation in their supply chain.
It was a special night for Rushcliffe, as local climate change champion Aleesha Gadhia was presented with the Future Leaders award, in recognition of her work locally and for campaigning for greater protections for the rainforest as the Cool Earth Campaign’s first-ever mini ambassador.
Her latest campaigning effort is a petition to ban all helium balloons from being released into the environment and harming local wildlife.
Other winners included Chris Skidmore MP for his championing of the Net Zero target in Parliament and the business Olio which produces an app that allows people to share resources so that as little as possible goes to waste, ensuring that surplus food can be shared instead of being thrown away.
Ruth said:
“It was wonderful to host the Green Heart Hero awards and to celebrate environmental heroes from across the UK. I want to congratulate all the candidates and award winners and thank them for all of the work they are doing to help tackle climate change and move the UK towards our Net Zero target.
“I also want to say a special congratulations to Aleesha whom I work with locally. To have the impact that she has at such a young age is really inspiring and I cannot wait to see what she does next.”
Aleesha’s parents, Pooja and Kiran said:
“We were so honoured to have been invited to Westminster Palace last night for the Green Heart Hero Awards. There are some amazing nominations and Aleesha never thought that she would win her category of the Future Leader Awards.
“We are so proud of her and her journey so far. She has worked tirelessly over the past few years to raise awareness about Climate Change and how it affects the planet. There is no stopping her. A huge thank you to the Climate Coalition for arranging these awards and to Ruth Edwards MP for her ongoing support of Aleesha’s journey”.
• West Bridgford girl wins national Green Heart Hero Award 2023
To read through the other nominees for the different categories, please visit Green Heart Hero Awards 2023 — The Climate Coalition.
