THE SHORTLIST:

Winner: Tim Smit Jeremy Leggett Sir Jonathon Porritt

The 2007 Environment winner is: Tim Smit

At a time when the subjects of carbon footprints and recycling bins are on the tips of everyone’s tongues, we felt it imperative to make last year’s special category a permanent fixture. Britons have undoubtedly been at the forefront of those looking to combat current environmental issues, embracing eco-warriors to future kings, scientists to economists; people from all walks of life are taking action. This award is for those whose work, whether it be through developing innovative technologies or eloquent arguments, has helped emphasise the importance of protecting the environment or helped to conserve our planet for future generations.

Tim Smit - Winner

Tim worked for ten years in the music industry, before he worked on restoring “The Lost Gardens of Heligan’ and remains a Director to the present day. The Gardens now receive over 300,000 visitors a year and is the most visited private garden in the UK.  He is also Chief Executive and co-founder of the Eden Project in Cornwall. This is a scientific institution combined with a visitor attraction dedicated to promoting the understanding of human dependence on plants and the natural environment. It houses the largest conservatories in the world, set inside a 34 acre, 200ft deep clay pit and in October 2007 won the best British building of the past 20 years at the British Construction Industry's 20th anniversary awards. In April 2007, Eden announced plans for Britain's first tourist attraction dedicated to climate change and how humans will live with increasing temperatures. The new £67m building, called The Edge, will allow people to explore what life will be like when weather patterns push humans to invent new ways of living.

External Links
The Eden Project

Jeremy Leggett -

Jeremy is the founder and Executive Chairman of Solarcentury and has been described by Time Magazine as 'one of the key players in putting the climate issue on the world agenda.'  He was an award-winning scientist, oil-industry consultant, and Greenpeace campaigner before setting up Solarcentury; the leading provider of solar photovoltaic solutions in the UK. Solarcentury has committed to pay 5% of its annual net profit into SolarAid, the charity it set up in September last year, which Leggett chairs. It aims to relieve poverty through facilitating the provision of solar energy to those in need. He has published 2 books; Half Gone and The Carbon War the latter of which has been described as "the best book yet on the politics of global warming".  He is also a director of the world's first private equity renewable energy fund and served on the UK Government's Renewables Advisory Board from 2002-06.

Sir Jonathon Porritt -

A well-known writer, broadcaster and journalist, he is also co-founder of Forum for the Future, established in 1996 and now the UK’s leading sustainable development charity. Sir Jonathon was appointed Chairman of the UK Sustainable Development Commission in July 2000 by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair, who described him as "one of the most prominent voices promoting green issues over the last 25 years". He was head of Friends of the Earth between 1984 and 1996; during this time he increased the number of supporters from 12,700 to 226,300.  He also serves in many other roles including co-director of The Prince of Wales Business and Environment Programme, a Trustee of the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy and vice-president of the Socialist Environment Resources Association (SERA). 

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