The renowned Austrian Environmental Journalism Award, initiated in 2017 by the environmental initiative MOTHER EARTH, is being announced again. Under the patronage of Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler and the organizer GREEN BRANDS, the award honors outstanding media contributions in the categories of text, audio, TV/video, and cross-media. This year, the distinguished GREEN BRAND1 lavera Natural Beauty is sponsoring the prize money of 4,000 euros.

Every day we receive new reports of climate disasters or environmental offenses. The Austrian Environmental Journalism Award was created seven years ago by the environmental initiative MOTHER EARTH to provide a platform to sharpen public awareness of environmentally relevant topics in the media and to promote well-researched reporting.

Sabine Kästner, Sustainability Officer & UPR Laverana, emphasizes: "This year, lavera is sponsoring the prize money because, alongside our commitment to environmental and nature conservation, the importance of transparent communication is especially close to our hearts. At a time when climate change presents an increasingly urgent challenge and budget cuts in the media sector threaten the depth of reporting, the significance of the Austrian Environmental Journalism Award becomes particularly clear. Critical and serious reporting on topics such as nature, climate, and environmental protection is more important than ever to raise awareness."

The environmental initiative MOTHER EARTH (www.muttererde.at) is a coalition of ORF and Austria’s leading environmental and nature conservation organizations – Alpine Club, BirdLife, GLOBAL 2000, Greenpeace, Nature Friends, Nature Conservation Association, VCÖ, and WWF. For resource reasons, a sponsor was sought for the award ceremony, which has been taken over by the GREEN BRANDS organization, committed to environmental and climate protection since 2012 (www.green-brands.org). The European quality seal from GREEN BRANDS for sustainability, in turn, honors brands, personalities, and companies that are seriously committed to sustainability.

Entries can now be submitted that were published or broadcast from September 2022 to August 31, 2024, in an Austrian public media outlet (print, radio, television) or on the internet (blogs, YouTube, website). The award ceremony will take place on December 3, 2024, as part of the GREEN BRANDS Austria closing gala in Vienna.

Until August 31, 2024, entries can be submitted via the form at https://www.umweltjournalismus-preis.at/einreichung-2023-24/. The submission must include precise information about the first publication (source and publication date). Only complete submissions will be processed. Radio and TV contributions with larger data volumes can be sent via link. The participation conditions and all information about the award are available at www.Umweltjournalismus-Preis.at.

For inquiries, also by email at einreichung@umweltjournalismuspreis.at. Questions & contact: Norbert R. Lux, Tel: 0043-0676 96 25 333, email: Norbert.Lux@Umweltjournalismus-Preis.at

1 Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic