Meath Climate Ambassador Awarded Outstanding Achievement 2020

A Meath farmer and county council Environmental Technician received an accolade for outstanding achievement at the virtual Climate Ambassador Awards held recently.

Twelve awards for an Outstanding Achievement were presented to individuals and teams from across Ireland at the virtual Climate Ambassador Awards on Thursday 26th November 2020 for their work in communicating and taking action on climate change.

Peter Olwell is a Climate Ambassador with a unique perspective, as both a farmer, witnessing how climate change and extreme weather are impacting local livelihoods and causing further soil erosion, and as an Environmental Technician in Meath County Council, aiming to increase general public awareness of climate change.

In March, he visited a local primary school to help with their climate action day and he also organised a Free Tree Day where 5000 native trees were given to people in Meath.

Peter has also planted some native forestry and hedgerows around his home and is trying to rid the county of disposable plastic bottles, organising several water refill stations throughout the year. Peter is always learning something new, having recently completed a level 6 qualification in Renewable Energy, and also Climate Reality training.

Over the course of the year, Climate Ambassadors carried out 397 climate actions, directly engaging over 165,000 people, and also created 585 climate communications, reaching an estimated 1.9 million!

164 citizens from a wide range of backgrounds including secondary school students and teachers, university students, academics, farmers and businesspeople were all selected to be Climate Ambassadors in 2020. The programme, now in its third year, has gone from strength-to-strength with Climate Ambassadors gaining key skills and confidence to take action, and inspiring others to join them on their journey.

Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan T.D., attended the awards and acknowledged the commitment of all Climate Ambassadors and their valuable work in communities across Ireland.

Climate Ambassadors are provided with training on climate science and communications and become part of a powerful network of committed individuals sharing their knowledge, learning from each other and building relationships. Throughout the year they are asked to undertake four key actions – two climate communications and two climate actions, though many individuals go over and above what is required.

The Awards are a celebration of the hard work that has taken place over the last year and the enormous effort and dedication that the Climate Ambassadors have shown throughout the process. To mark this, each Climate Ambassador received a certificate of recognition. In addition, twelve Outstanding Achievement Awards were presented to Climate Ambassadors based on the work they have carried out during the year.