From Left to Right: Gráinne Ryan, Climate Action Programme Manager. Sharmila Bano, Liam Coyle, Hannah Gilligan, Trevor Seery, Ruth Barron, Eddie Bradley, Rachel Smyth, Dana Manlagnit. Conor Anderson, Department of Environment, Climate and Communications. Sarah Bennett. Credit: Conor Healy/Picture It Photography

An Taisce Awards 10 Climate Ambassadors for Outstanding Achievement

An Taisce’s annual Climate Ambassador Awards brings together citizens who are passionate about protecting the planet and rewards their local efforts to reduce the impact of climate change in Ireland.

From Donegal to Dublin and Mayo to Meath, on Saturday the 30^th of November, the room was filled with inspiring changemakers. Hailing from communities, clubs, businesses, schools, and colleges from all over Ireland; their collective achievement in 2024 is nothing short of outstanding. 148 Climate Ambassadors were trained by An Taisce’s Climate Action Team earlier this year, and together they delivered 658 climate actions, directly engaging over 265,000 people. The group also released 2,375 climate communications, reaching an estimated 4.5 million people in 2024!

Every Climate Ambassador was recognised with a framed certificate, and 10 were distinguished with special awards for their impactful climate actions. Throughout the year, they engaged their networks with biodiversity, circular fashion, education, nature restoration, youth communications, sustainable travel, sustainable energy, tree planting, rewilding, flood prevention, degrowth, food waste, and environmental advocacy. In addition to their impressive impact and extensive list of achievements, the awardees were also commended for uniting communities, boosting neighbourhood bonds, building trust, bridging generational gaps, and raising hope for our future.

The 10 outstanding Climate Ambassadors, include teachers, active travel advocates, club leaders, secondary school students, university students, entrepreneurs, and employees of Connaught GAA and KPMG.

“An Taisce has no doubt that these Climate Ambassadors will continue to inspire others to take action locally and across the country,” said Gráinne Ryan, Climate Action Manager in An Taisce.

148 citizens from a wide range of backgrounds including primary school teachers, secondary school students and teachers, university students, academics, farmers, and businesspeople were all chosen to be Climate Ambassadors in 2024. This intergenerational programme, which is funded by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications and has been in operation since 2017, continues to expand, as proactive citizens decide to upskill in climate science, solutions and communications, enabling them, with support from An Taisce, to carry out climate actions.

Throughout the year they are asked to undertake four key tasks – two climate communications and two climate actions, though many participants achieve much more. This programme allows individuals to join a strong network of dedicated people who share knowledge, gain insight from one another, and forge long-lasting friendships.  

CLIMATE AMBASSADOR AWARDS WINNERS 2024

	Name	Category	County	Achievement Highlights
1	Dana Manlagnit	Secondary Student	Donegal	Set up collaborative art and literary e-zine ‘Climate Culture.’ Participated in the National Youth Assembly on Climate. Spoke at Mary Robinson Climate Conference on youth panel.
2	Eddie Bradley	Community	Donegal	Sustainable transport advocate. Embarked on a cycle trip from Letterkenny to Cork, sharing stories along the way to promote the joy of active travel.
3	Hannah Gilligan	Community	Meath	Biodiversity advocate. Excellence in community climate communication including youth clubs, the Women’s Shed and festival goers.
4	Kurt Reinhardt	Community	Mayo	Spearheaded sustainability initiatives at the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence. Beekeeper. Managed a tree planting project of over 10,000 trees.
5	Liam Coyle	Community	Longford	Enthusiastic communicator and climate action invigorator within KPMG. Nature restoration advocate.
6	Rachel Smyth	Trinity College Dublin. Student	Dublin	Sustainable fashion, upcycling, and waste reduction advocate. Created an innovative sustainable & circular fashion map of Dublin.
7	Ruth Barron	Community	Kildare	Passionate climate communicator via her monthly newsletter to service users and staff in Stewart’s Care Centre.
8	Sarah Bennett	Student University of Utrecht	Laois	Youth-led climate action. From repair cafes to biodiversity walks and talks, a strong generator of community engagement in climate action.
9	Sharmila Bano	Community	Clare	Mindful consumption campaigner. Set up Loop Head climate action team. Runs youth climate workshops. Involved in flood risk assessment.
10	Trevor Seery	Community	Leitrim	Reforestation and biodiversity advocate. Passionate and determined tree planter. Planted 805 trees and counting in 2024

 

The Climate Ambassador Programme is operated by An Taisce and is funded by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications under the National Dialogue on Climate Action. The programme has trained and supported 1,171 individuals to become Climate Ambassadors in their community since 2018.

An Taisce operates all FEE programmes in Ireland – (Green-Schools, Green-Campus, Blue Flag, LEAF, YRE) along with national education and awareness-raising programmes such National Spring Clean, Clean Coasts, IBAL, Climate Ambassador, and GLOBE.

www.climateambassador.ie 

https://linktr.ee/climateambassador