BBC’s Lucy Siegle to host our Environment Awards

The journalist, author and TV presenter will host the eagerly-anticipated awards ceremony on May 10, when this year’s winners will be revealed. More details and the shortlist in full

Miss Siegle is a roving reporter covering green issues for BBC’s The One Show and a long-standing columnist on the Observer.

She told the Yorkshire Post: “I’m always really excited by different projects.

“Sustainability and eco projects used to be thought of crisis projects such as ‘What if there is no more oil or no more food?’

“Now they are starting to make sense and look like the smart thing to do.

“They are also bringing something to the community and are not just about saving carbon. They are about demonstrably making life better in lots of different ways.

“I always look for warmth in community projects. People contribute in ways that money can’t buy. Some are quite modest and don’t put themselves forward.

“It is really important to acknowledge how much time and effort people put into these schemes and celebrate them as well.”

The Yorkshire Post Environment Awards highlight the major green advances being made in this region by businesses, schools, community groups and individuals.

Miss Siegle will speak to the audience on the night about her work and her life-long passion for sustainability.

“It’s an ongoing thing since childhood. From a very early age I was interested in the natural world,” she said.

“My grandfather was an amateur ecologist from Bootle in Liverpool. He was a scientist who worked for Shell. He used to tell me in the future that there would be no oil.

“Then I went to college and lost interest. I was too busy enjoying myself.

“I came out and found that none of these things had been sorted out and I started taking an active interest again.

“I didn’t think that the green movement was speaking to me and my peer group.

“I wanted to do something cooler and trendier. That’s what I wanted to do.”

Miss Siegle, who grew up in the North West and Ireland, went to the Central School of Speech and Drama in London and then moved into the textiles industry, working at Osborne and Little, the fabric and wallpaper firm owned by the Chancellor George Osborne’s family.

She worked in public relations for the company, learning about design and fashion, before deciding that she wanted to be “on the other side of the fence” and talked her way into the Guardian Media Group as an assistant in 2000.

“I did the stuff no-one else wanted to,” she said. Her Observer column on environmental issues and ethical consumerism started in 2004.

Four years ago, commissioning editors at the BBC chose her to present a five-part series on recycling for The One Show, a new magazine programme. She is now an established fixture on the prime-time show.

Caroline Flint, the Labour MP for Don Valley and Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, is the keynote speaker at this year’s awards.

CO2Sense, which helps businesses public sector organisations cut greenhouse gas emissions and costs, is the main sponsor.

The not-for-profit consultancy is backing the main award for best environmental business. Past winners include dairy giant Arla, Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate and Yorkshire Bank.

The other categories are: Innovation, sponsored by Yorkshire Water; Community, sponsored by Banks Renewables; Young People’s Award, sponsored by Asda; Countryside, sponsored by Northern Gas Networks; Built environment (projects over £1m), sponsored by Grant Thornton; Manufacturer of the best green product, sponsored by Dickinson Dees; Best environmental start-up and Climate Change.

The Yorkshire Post is sponsoring the Green Champion award which recognises an individual for his or her efforts.

• More details and the awards shortlist in full