Minister Ryan to give an address at Green Awards 2022, Mary Robinson to accept Green Leader award

We have two important announcements regarding the 14th annual Green Awards on Thursday, April 21st.

Firstly, we are delighted to announce that Minister for the Environment, Climate, Communications and Transport, Eamon Ryan T.D., will be in attendance to deliver a special address at the event in the Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road, Dublin.

Past attendees of the Green Awards may recall that Minister Ryan was the recipient of the Green Leader award at the awards ceremony in 2021.

Eamon Ryan T.D. speaking at Green Awards 2021

Furthermore, we are honoured to announce that Former President of Ireland and Chair of The Elders, Mary Robinson, will be the recipient of the Green Leader 2022 award, sponsored by Bord na Móna.

Mrs. Robinson is a globally recognised voice on climate change, and this award marks her strong leadership as a climate campaigner and her powerful advocacy for climate justice.

Mrs. Robinson will address the attendees, both those viewing online and in attendance at the Clayton Hotel, via a pre-recorded video-message.

Robinson, Chair of The Elders

An Adjunct Professor for Climate Justice in Trinity College Dublin and Chair of The Elders, Mrs. Robinson formerly served as President of Ireland from 1990-1997 and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002. She is a member of the Club of Madrid and the recipient of numerous honours and awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the President of the United States Barack Obama. Between 2013 and 2016 Mary served as the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy in three roles; first for the Great Lakes region of Africa, then on Climate Change leading up to the Paris Agreement and in 2016 as his Special Envoy on El Niño and Climate. Her Foundation, the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice, established in 2010, came to a planned end in April 2019.

A former President of the International Commission of Jurists and former chair of the Council of Women World Leaders she was President and founder of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative from 2002-2010 and served as Honorary President of Oxfam International from 2002-2012. She was Chancellor of the University of Dublin from 1998 to 2019.

Mary Robinson serves as Patron of the International Science Council and Patron of the Board of the Institute of Human Rights and Business, is an Ambassador for The B Team, in addition to being a board member of several organisations including the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and the Aurora Foundation. Recently she became joint Honorary President of the Africa Europe Foundation. Mary’s memoir, ‘Everybody Matters’ was published in September 2012 and her book, ‘Climate Justice - Hope, Resilience and the Fight for a Sustainable Future’ was published in September 2018. She is also co-host of a podcast on the climate crisis, called ‘Mothers of Invention’.