Diversity is not something we bolt onto the transition - It is how the transition succeeds

Good evening and welcome to the Women in Green Business awards 2026!

This is the UK's biggest and best celebration of the remarkable women who are working to advance the green economy each and every day.  

And there's certainly plenty worth celebrating in this room tonight.

These awards are now in their third year, and it's been a real honour to pick up the baton from Cecilia Keating as Chair of Judges.

Although, it was no easy task. This year's awards are our biggest and most competitive yet.  

There were more than 1,000 nominations, over 400 entries, and 200 finalists. Together they offer a remarkable snapshot of leadership across the UK's green economy.  

And we all know that leadership is needed now more than ever.  

We are living through an omni-crisis. Climate impacts are intensifying, fossil fuel prices are soaring once again, and women across the world are watching their hard-won rights and freedoms being stripped away. 

On multiple fronts the backlash against progress is all too real.  

Meanwhile, some of the men with the greatest influence over our future are focused on building AI systems they admit could kill us all or trying to reach another planet so they can pollute that one too.

Back here on Earth, political support for climate action is becoming increasingly fragile. Net zero has become another front in the culture wars and climate scepticism is creeping back into mainstream politics...  

You are all doing exceptional and important work - challenging conventional approaches to climate action, building industry-wide movements, and creating systemic change in sectors that, more often than not, were never designed with women in mind.  

It turns out that patriarchy is screwing up the planet, along with everything else. 

In fact, it has a lot in common with the fossil fuel industry.

Both have been around for centuries. 

Both are built on inequality.

Both survive on an assumption that this is simply the way things are. 

And most importantly, both need phasing out - or should that be tearing down - as quickly as possible.

Because now, more than ever, we are racing against the clock.

The climate crisis has arrived on our doorstep - in homes that are too hot, in rising food prices, disrupted journeys, escalating health risks, and pressure on supply chains and businesses.  

And of course, these impacts are not evenly shared.  We know women and girls are more vulnerable to the climate crisis.  

Just this week the UN warned extreme heat is posing a growing health risk for pregnant women and newborn babies around the world.

In the UK, the evidence is increasingly clear. Research from the Women's Budget Group shows Women - particularly those who are disabled or from marginalised backgrounds - absorb a disproportionate share of climate impacts, while holding the least power to shape the response.

Because climate risk doesn't exist in isolation. It interacts with existing inequalities in income, housing, disability, health, caring responsibilities, race, and access to power. 

This is exactly why we need more women designing the solutions. This moment calls for different perspectives, different forms of leadership, and people prepared to challenge the established systems that have caused this mess.  

This is not simply a question of fairness - it is an economic imperative. Diversity is not something we bolt onto the transition. 

It is how the transition succeeds. We can't tackle green skills shortages and build the future economy if entire industries put barriers in the way of over half the population.  

But thankfully, progress is being made. Women hold nearly two thirds of executive sustainability roles at large companies, and more than half of Chief Sustainability Officer positions globally.  

But in many industries that are key to climate action, including industries represented here tonight, progress has been far too slow.  

And that's why these awards matter. 

Tonight is not just about celebration - it's about visibility and recognition. About making women's achievements impossible to ignore. About helping to ensure women have the influence, resources, and opportunities to achieve even more. 

The challenge in front of us is enormous. But so is the opportunity. So tonight, let's celebrate the women who are seizing that opportunity. 

Congratulations once again to all the nominees and finalists on tonight's shortlist.   

I had the privilege of reading through all the entries, and what struck me was not just the scale of what women are achieving, but how genuinely transformational so much of this work is. 

It also made selecting our winners and highly commended entries no easy task. 

So a huge thank you to our judges for the time and care they gave to the process. It really was a near impossible undertaking and we're only sorry we couldn't make you all winners.

Thank you also to our sponsors - Equans, SE Advisory, AVK and Bridge to Food - and to all our partners, for supporting these awards. 

And a big thank you to the team at BusinessGreen, for staging such a fabulous evening.  

But most of all, thank you to all our finalists.  

You're testament to what's possible when women lead the way in building a safer and more sustainable world for everyone.  

When women work together in advancing a common cause. 

And, when women refuse to accept the world as it is, and set about building the world as it should be.

On that note, I'll leave you with the words of the late, great Dolly Parton, "If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one".

Thank you.

Jade Burnett was chair of judges for the Women in Green Business Awards 2026.