Click here for the latest news on the ENERGY GLOBE Award.

Mikhail Gorbachev receives ENERGY GLOBE Award. The World Award goes to Austria.

Standing ovations at the ENERGY GLOBE TV Gala: With applause that held for minutes, one thousand guests in the Plenary Hall of the EU Parliament reacted to the presentation of the honorary ENERGY GLOBE Award to Mikhail Gorbachev, presented by  EU Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering and EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. 

There were also beaming faces among the five contestants who were distinguished with ENERGY GLOBES for the best projects in the categories Fire, Water, Earth, Air and Youth and the winner of the World Award voted by the audience. This thrilling vote by the Gala audience bestowed the prize upon the winner in the category Air: The Austrian company Fronius is operates its vehiclepool on a zero-emission level with fuel cells based on hydrogen that is produced autonomously using photovoltaic and electrolysis. The Earth Award went to a Peruvian solid waste management program that offers income to the waste collectors. A project building wells for about 2 million people received the ENERGY GLOBE Award in the category Water. The Award in the category Fire was taken home by the Andasol parabolic power plant, which enable emission-free energy even during the night via thermal storage. The Youth Award was given to a South African sustainability project that raises kids’ awareness about environmental issues.

Before the guests in the Plenary Hall and countless TV viewers the world over, at the glamorous Gala on May 26 world stars such as Dionne Warwick and political figures such as EU Council President Janez Jansa and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan presented the golden statues. Spirits rose as Alanis Morissette and Zucchero transformed the Plenary Hall into a concert hall and thrilled the audience with their rock performances.

The Award Gala in Brussels represents a unique distinction for the winners, whose projects target greater environmental protection and sustainability in handling our resources, but also serves as an accolade for the ENERGY GLOBE, which in its nine years has developed to the world’s most prominent environmental award.

The GLOBAL ENERGY Conference continued the next day with prominent statesmen including Kofi Annan and Mikhail Gorbachev and a discussion of energy issues (program of the GLOBAL ENERGY Conference).

Press photos

Photo gallery

Informations on the awarded projects

Interview with Mikhail Gorbachev

Interview with Maneka Ghandi

Interview with Aamir Khan