4th version of climate awards launched

The fourth instalment of the HSBC-The Daily Star Climate Awards, aimed at recognising and encouraging individuals and organisations actively working towards preserving the environment and tackling the risk of climate change, was launched yesterday.The announcement for this year’s awards, which will recognise five climate champions in four categories, was made at a press conference in the capital’s Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel.The categories are climate champion in green business, climate champion in green operations, climate champion in knowledge management and climate champion in community engagement.Two awards will be given in the category of climate champion in green operations to a local company and either a fully foreign-owned or a joint venture firm.The Daily Star and HSBC are the joint organisers while Waste Concern is the knowledge partner for the awards.Nomination forms and detailed information are available at www.hsbc.com.bd and www.thedailystar.net. Applications for the awards must reach Waste Concern’s office on or before October 27.The winners of the awards will be announced in December 2013.Speakers at the press conference stressed that climate change would continue to be a serious threat to Bangladesh if prompt action was not taken to prevent environmental degradation.They were of the view that overcoming this challenge required a strong participation and motivation of the people, as well as a lead role by the media in creating awareness among all on global phenomenon.Speaking at the conference, HSBC Bangladesh Chief Executive Officer Andrew Tilke observed that though climate change continued to be a serious threat, strong group efforts and local innovations could make a difference in environmental impact.“Awareness is important in the course of our acts, be it for now or the future. When we innovate, we have to make sure that we are limiting the damage on the environment,” said Tilke.In his comments, Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, said the emerging threat of global climate change should not be seen as “just another incident”, rather everyone needed to raise a serious concern about it.“It is nothing new that Bangladesh is the most vulnerable country to climate change. The developed countries are responsible for it. We can blame them but we have to come forward to protect ourselves, as it is a threat to our existence,” he said.He urged the media to give more importance to publishing and airing news regarding climate change and its impact.AHM Maqsood Sinha, executive director of Waste Concern, said a lot of initiatives to reduce the risk of climate change had been taken in the         country that needed recognition.Talukdar Noman Anwar, country head of communications           for HSBC Bangladesh,   said the awards had      been gaining popularity since their inception in 2010, as demonstrated    by an increase in the number of applicants every year.