WELCOME TO THE 2015 GREEN STAR AWARDS!

WELCOME TO THE
2015 GREEN STAR AWARDS!

The purpose of the Green Star Awards is to recognize individuals, organizations,
governments and companies who demonstrate outstanding achievements in
prevention, preparedness, and response to environmental emergencies.
Environmental emergencies are sudden-onset disasters or accidents resulting
from natural, technological or human-induced factors, or a combination of
these, that cause or threaten to cause severe environmental damage as well
as loss of human lives and livelihoods. Addressing this risk is vital to ensuring
effective humanitarian response to disasters, and to safeguarding human health,
livelihoods, and the environment.
This year, three winners have been selected for their remarkable contributions to
the field of environmental emergencies.
The Green Star Awards are a joint initiative between Green Cross International
(GCI), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the
UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
The Awards ceremony is generously supported by the Government of Norway.

Credit: Prasanta Biswas

THE SELECTION PROCESS

A Green Star Awards Selection Committee comprising representatives of GCI,
UNEP and OCHA was responsible for overseeing the nomination and selection of
awards recipient.
The final selection of awardees was endorsed by the following panel:

                          Alexander Likhotal
                          President, Green Cross International

                          Rashid Khalikov
                          Director, Geneva UN Office for the Coordination of
                          Humanitarian Affairs

                          Mette Løyche Wilkie
                          Director, Division of Environmental Policy Implementation
                          (DEPI), United Nations Environment Programme

CATEGORIES

This year, the Green Star Awards recognised nominees in three areas of work:

1. PREVENTION AND PREPAREDNESS
The efforts to increase awareness of communities, disaster responders,
governments and industries on the impacts of environmental emergencies, and
to improve preparedness to future disasters by building capacity at various levels.

2. RESPONSE
The efforts to ensure that capacity to respond to environmental emergencies
is always being improved, in order to save lives, reduce health impacts, ensure
public safety and meet the basic subsistence needs of the people affected.

3. ENVIRONMENT AND HUMANITARIAN ACTION
Attention to environmental issues as part of a holistic response effort, by ensuring
that environmental considerations are taken into account: including during
strategy development, contingency planning, resource mobilization, performance
monitoring and evaluation.
          More information can be found on www.greenstarawards.net

CRITERIA

The selection of nominees and awardees was based on demonstration of one or
more of the following criteria:

Prevention and Preparedness
•   Played a critical role in preparing for or preventing an environmental emergency
    through the implementation and/or development of best practice or lessons learnt;
•   Strengthened capacities through the development and effective dissemination and
    communication of environmental emergency lessons learnt;
•   Outstanding achievement of capacity-building missions in prevention and
    preparedness;
•   Effective development of education and training courses on environmental
    emergencies.

Response
•   Provided exemplary leadership, assistance and substantial support in response to
    one or more environmental emergencies;
•   Demonstrated results in coordination of response to environmental emergencies;
•   Achieved outstanding results in the response to an environmental emergency.

Environment in Humanitarian Action
•   Succeeded in ensuring that environmental issues are integrated into decision-
    making and response during humanitarian actions;
•   Marked improvement in consideration of environmental issues in humanitarian
    action based on lessons learned;
•   Effective leadership and participation in awareness-raising on environmental issues
    in humanitarian action.

Credit: Jaspreet Kindra/IRIN

THE 2015 AWARDEES

PREPAREDNESS AND PREVENTION
Ambatovy, for effectively preventing environmental emergencies and
reducing disaster risk through removal of chemical hazards in Toamasina,
Madagascar.

RESPONSE
CEDRE (Centre of Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental
Water Pollution), for its deployment of experts and technical advice to field
response missions in the Philippines in 2013 and in Bangladesh in 2014.

ENVIRONMENT AND HUMANITARIAN ACTION
Women’s Refugee Commission, for spearheading and implementing the Safe
Access to Fuel and Energy (SAFE) Initiative and producing the first-ever
guidance on safe access to energy in humanitarian settings.

PREVENTION AND PREPAREDNESS

  Ambatovy

In 2014, Ambatovy assisted in the destruction
of two ammonia tanks, each containing 12
tonnes of liquid ammonia (NH3), abandoned
for 30 years at the site of the former Zeren
fertilizer company, in the middle of the town
of Toamasina, Madagascar. The tanks were
severely weathered; the level of corrosion was
such that a failure or leak of a valve could have
resulted in a catastrophic event, with potential
to cause thousands of deaths in an area of
700,000 inhabitants. When Ambatovy took
over the project, the tanks were completely
exposed, with children regularly playing in close
proximity.
Local and national authorities, including local
police, health authorities and fire fighters, as
well as private industries, were closely involved.
All activities were conducted under the aegis
of the Ministry of Industry with the Industrial
Risk Committee responsible for overall project
management.

Under its Social Investment Fund, a $25 million fund
created to support social and infrastructure projects in
the areas in which it operates, Ambatovy provided its
expertise in logistical, financial, and technical aspects
of the operation, from organization to implementation.
A specialized contractor, Seal Tight, was identified and
brought in to secure the tanks allowing for Ambatovy to
continue with the destruction of the ammonia supply.
Ambatovy also worked with local authorities to raise awareness among the 4,000 families living
nearby. Radio, newspaper and door-to-door campaigns helped keep the public informed about
the operation in real time, providing health and safety messages, and avoiding panic.
The operation was conducted successfully and without incident. And now, the kids are back in the
field playing football once again.

RESPONSE

  CEDRE

Cedre is an association of French public and private
organizations specialized in accidental surface
water pollution (sea and rivers) which assists
the authorities in charge of crisis management
by providing its experience and know-how
in order to limit the effects of the pollution.
Cedre provides advice to enable optimum use of
available resources to respond to the pollution.
Cedre also assesses the situation and the damage
caused by the pollution.
In consultation with authorities, scientists
and other stakeholders, Cedre formulates
recommendations for the use of resources,
pollution response techniques and protection
equipment to preserve the most sensitive areas
from an economic and environmental point of
view and in locations where their effect will be
optimal. This action limits, if it cannot prevent,
the impact of the pollution on human activities
such as fishing and on animal and plant species in
these habitats.
Cedre’s knowledge of pollution response products
and techniques also enables the selection of
the most adequate response options according

to the type of pollutant involved and the
environmental and economic sensitivity of the
impacted area. This improves the efficiency
of pollution response by either recovery or
another method of the pollutant while ensuring
minimal impact on the environment . «Over-
cleaning» can sometimes be as damaging as
«under-cleaning» and Cedre guides decisions
towards a solution that places the impacted
ecosystem in the best situation possible for a
quick recovery of its original functions.
Cedre participated in a number of UNEP/OCHA/UNDP assistance missions over the past years
and contributed experts to respond to chemical and oil pollutions. In 2006, Cedre was present in
Lebanon on the pollution caused by the fuel of the Jiyeh power plant, in the Republic of Korea in
2007 after the accident of the VLCC Heibei Spirit and in 2007 again in the Kerch strait to respond
to the pollution caused by the sinking of four ships at anchor during a heavy storm. Cedre went
twice to the Philippines, in 2008 on the sinking of the ferry MV Princess of the Stars and on a
pollution caused by a power barge following Typhoon Haiyan in December 2013. Finally Cedre
provided experts to Bangladesh in December 2014 when an oil tanker ran aground in the UNESCO
protected Sundarbans area.

ENVIRONMENT AND
HUMANITARIAN ACTION

  Women’s Refugee Commission

The Women’s Refugee Commission put cooking
fuel and energy on the humanitarian agenda
when it became clear that the daily tasks
refugee women must do to survive, including
gathering cooking fuel, were exposing them to
rape and other violence.
In displacement settings, food rations typically
must be cooked in order to be eaten, but cooking
fuel is rarely provided. Women and girls leave
the relative safety of camps to collect firewood
– sometimes searching up to six hours a day.
They are targeted by soldiers or sometimes by
men from host communities, frustrated by the
competition for scarce local resources.
                                                    Research. Rethink. Resolve.

The Women’s Refugee Commission contributed
unprecedented research on the implications of
firewood collection in refugee settings. In 2007,
the organization spearheaded the creation of
the InterAgency Standing Commitee Task Force
on Safe Access to Fuel and Energy (SAFE),
which produced and widely distributed the
first-ever guidance on safe access to energy in
humanitarian settings.

SAFE combines improved technologies and
alternative fuels to reduce the risk of violence
to women and girls while meeting the energy
needs of displaced populations. Both promote
environmental management and rehabilitation.
The Women’s Refugee Commission advocates
for the humanitarian community to implement
SAFE as a standard part of emergency response.
The project continues to test economically and
environmentally sustainable cookstoves and
fuels that could be scaled up in humanitarian
settings.
The Women’s Refugee Commission co-chairs the interagency SAFE Steering Committee, as well
as the Humanitarian Working Group of the Global Alliance on Clean Cookstoves. The Women’s
Refugee Commission provided expert guidance to UNHCR as it developed its new SAFE strategy,
which safely and sustainably supports refugee energy needs.

Credit: Candace Feit/IRIN

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Special thanks and recognition go to
Robert Warren for the creation of the
Green Star trophy, which symbolizes
efforts to “peace” the world back
together following conflicts, disasters
and industrial accidents.
The trophy is made of recycled metal,
glass and wood. The timber base is from
responsible source. The casting work
is carried out by Kenyan artisans who
take a great deal of pride in producing
a product which will be awarded at a
prestigious event. The workshop is Fair
Trade.

THIS EVENT WAS MADE
                               POSSIBLE WITH THE GENEROUS
                                               SUPPORT OF:

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway
www.dsb.no

Green Cross International
www.gcint.org

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
www.unocha.org

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
www.unep.org