Winner:

Ruby Rodgers
Ruby Rodgers is a young climate advocate who weaves creativity with activism, using music and storytelling to spark emotional honesty in the fight against climate change. Growing up in a musical family, she transformed her climate anxiety into art, releasing her debut EP Crisis and contributing original tracks to Damon Gameau’s documentary Future Council. In the film, she travelled across Europe with other young voices, challenging CEOs and global leaders on sustainability, later sharing her perspective through a TEDx talk and performances at major events including the UN General Assembly. Ruby’s work has inspired youth councils worldwide, with corporations like Officeworks adopting new eco-friendly initiatives in response. Her unique strength lies in celebrating vulnerability as a leadership trait, showing that authentic emotion can connect generations and drive systemic change. Through her music, public speaking, and collaborations, Ruby empowers others to feel, act, and take responsibility for a shared future.

Finalists:

Annabelle Horn (Year 9 student)
Albury High School
In collaboration with Craig Day (teacher)
A vision for Albury 2075; sustainable living in a rural setting.

International Grammar School
International Grammar School students are leading bold climate action through education, waste reduction, and activism, inspiring their community and beyond to build a sustainable future.

Winner:

The Groundswell Collective
The Groundswell Collective’s Tiny Forests are transforming the way local communities tackle biodiversity loss and climate change right in their own communities.

These compact, fast-growing native forests, no bigger than a tennis court, are bringing nature back into urban and rural spaces across NSW. Since 2023, The Groundswell has planted 15 Tiny Forests with over 2,150 volunteers and students, resulting in cooler streets, thriving pollinators, improved soil health, and the return of native wildlife.

What makes Tiny Forests different is their deep community roots. Each one is co-designed with locals, schools, and Traditional Custodians, blending science, culture and hands-on action.

Recognised by national awards and global networks, The Groundswell’s initiative is not just planting trees, its planting hope, building resilience, and showing that small patches of land can have a big impact.

This is grassroots climate action in motion—delivering real results for people and planet.

Finalists:

Australian Museum FrogID Project
Australian Museum
In collaboration with: – NSW Government, Inspiring Australia – Science Engagement Programme
The Australian Museum’s FrogID project is a record-breaking citizen science initiative using mobile technology to monitor and conserve Australia’s threatened frogs.

Envite Environment
Workways Aus
In collaboration with: – World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT), Local Land Services (LLS), NSW Department of Climate Change Energy, Environment and Water
Envite Environment’s Koala landscape habitat recovery initiative delivers large-scale, science-led, and community-driven restoration from Taree to Tweed Heads, enhancing biodiversity, building climate resilience, and protecting koalas through long-term partnerships and on-ground action.

Platypus Conservation Initiative
The University of New South Wales
In collaboration with: – WWF – Australia, Taronga Conservation Society, NSW NPWS, Australian Conservation Foundation
The UNSW Platypus Conservation Initiative has transformed platypus conservation through groundbreaking research, successful reintroductions, and community engagement, reversing local extinctions across NSW.

Project EnergyConnect
Elecnor Australia
In collaboration with: – Transgrid
The EnergyConnect project, led by Transgrid and Elecnor Australia, has redefined industry standards for transmission projects, and as a result has delivered exceptional ecological outcomes.

The Royal Sydney Golf Club
The Royal Sydney Golf Club’s Bay Course is one of Australia’s finest and most exciting new golf courses – but the project did not just deliver a world-class golf course, it also represents a wider philosophy on purposeful and sustainable use of golfing green space.

Winners:

John Holland – M7M12 Integration Project
John Holland
In collaboration with: – Fulton Hogan, PV Industries
The Solar Panel Glass Sand in Asphalt initiative is a groundbreaking Australian-first effort led by John Holland’s M7-M12 Integration project to address the mounting issue of solar panel waste. With Australia expected to generate 1 million tonnes of end-of-life solar panels by 2035, the initiative transforms discarded panels into a valuable resource, replacing quarried sand in asphalt with crushed solar panel glass. This innovation, developed in collaboration with PV Industries and Fulton Hogan, not only diverts waste from landfill but also reduces greenhouse gas emissions and reliance on virgin materials, while meeting strict safety and performance standards.

Applied for the very first time on the M7-M12 project, the initiative repurposed 400 solar panels, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5% compared to traditional materials. Now a Transport for NSW-approved product, its scalability extends across NSW and beyond, offering a global solution to solar waste and redefining how infrastructure projects can embrace sustainability.

Winning Group
The Winning Group’s sustainability initiatives promote circularity by encouraging responsible consumption and facilitating the recycling of appliances, mattresses, and packaging across its retail brands—Winnings, Appliances Online, Andoo, Home Clearance—and logistics partners. Through pioneering free take-back programs, customers can recycle e-waste, mattresses, and packaging, keeping materials in circulation and preventing harmful chemicals from polluting the environment.

Since 2005, John Winning has led the way with a free e-waste solution, now covering 95% of Australia. In 2021, the program expanded to include recycling of cardboard, EPS, soft plastics, timber crates, and mattresses, making the Group the only Australian retailer to offer this service at no cost.

Through partnerships with key suppliers and the launch of an industry-first Recycling Partnership Program, the Winning Group is scaling the program, supporting domestic manufacturing, and driving broader industry change. The Group has recycled over 80,000 tonnes of e-waste, becoming Australia’s largest retail collector.

Finalists:

Auburn Hospital Sustainability Team
Auburn Hospital
In collaboration with: – Petbarn Arc, Save the Children, Cumberland Council Community gardens, various church and community organisations
Auburn Hospital Sustainability team, small actions, big impact: greening health care together.

Lion Pty Ltd
Stone & Wood joins forces with industry partners to pioneer sustainable packaging innovation in Australia.

OceanEarth Foundation
In collaboration with: – OzFish Unlimited, Defy Design
LoopFloat, developed by OceanEarth Foundation and partners, is tackling ghost gear through design, replacing polystyrene floats with Australia’s first circular product designed by and for recreational fishers.

Sustainable Scrubs
Sustainable Scrubs demonstrates how even a small business can lead big change, creating circular healthcare uniforms from waste materials and pioneering recycling solutions across the sector

Winners:

Green Gravity

Green Gravity, based in Wollongong, NSW, is an Australian clean technology innovator transforming the challenge of mine closures into a climate solution. By repurposing legacy mine shafts, the company’s Gravitational Energy Storage System (GESS) lifts and lowers heavy weights to store and release renewable energy on demand. This approach delivers safe, chemical-free, and water-free long-duration storage, with asset lives of 40–50 years — a breakthrough compared to lithium-ion batteries.

In 2023, Green Gravity launched the Gravity Lab™ in Port Kembla, and in 2025 commenced large-scale demonstration projects, including feasibility at the Russell Vale #4 Colliery. With over 75 potential deployment sites assessed across Australia and internationally, Green Gravity is building a pipeline of more than 10 GWh of storage.

The company’s mission is to “radically accelerate the world’s renewable transition”, targeting net negative 1 gigatonne of CO₂e by 2033, while delivering local jobs, regional resilience, and a just transition for mining communities.

Finalists:

EnergyCo
Energy Corporation of NSW
The Waratah Super Battery Project safeguards the NSW electricity grid by acting as a shock absorber to ensure stability during disruptions and enabling a reliable transition to clean, sustainable energy.

UNSW – SunDotLeap
SunDotLeap
In collaboration with: – Ziv Hameiri, Uma Ghorpade
SunDotLeap, a UNSW spin-out, is pioneering farmer-first agrivoltaic panels that boost crop productivity while generating renewable energy, helping farmers build resilience against climate and energy challenges.

Ventia
In collaboration with: – Essential Energy, Pixii
The Community Battery initiative delivers scalable, shared energy storage to regional communities, enhancing grid flexibility, supporting rooftop solar and accelerating Australia’s transition to a low-carbon future.

Winner:

Property & Development NSW
As the central property agency for government, Property & Development NSW (PDNSW) established a vision to be a leader in net zero for NSW Government agencies. PDNSW is proud to be taking meaningful steps to decarbonisation and contributing the sustainable development goals by taking urgent action to mitigate climate change.

With a property portfolio worth over $1.3 billion and over 228,000square metres of owned workplace assets, PDNSW faced a formidable challenge: how to decarbonise a diverse and aging portfolio of buildings while maintaining operational efficiency and fiscal responsibility

The net zero journey brought together sustainability teams and asset and facilities management teams across the state and uplifted the portfolio to achieve net zero emissions for its office portfolio in 2024, the first NSW Government property agency to do so.

Finalists:

Hunter Joint Organisation
Powering Tomorrow: Regional Councils NSW Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) is a renewable electricity initiative co-led by MNCJO and HJO, securing 83% renewables to 2030, cutting 185,000 tonnes of emissions and saving $5.2 million.

Incitec Pivot Fertilisers
Incitec Pivot Fertilisers is driving Australia’s transition to low-emission agriculture through the development and large-scale deployment of enhanced efficiency fertilisers that significantly reduce nitrous oxide and ammonia emissions.

Winner:

The Wagonga Inlet Living Shoreline
Eurobodalla Shire Council
In collaboration with: – NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, The Nature Conservancy, Australian Government
The Wagonga Inlet Living Shoreline (WILS) represents a paradigm shift in coastal management, replacing deteriorating hard infrastructure with a comprehensive living shoreline system in Narooma, NSW. Through unprecedented collaboration between Eurobodalla Shire Council, NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, The Nature Conservancy, and First Nations peoples, the project has created Australia’s first adjacent intertidal and subtidal oyster reef complex alongside restored saltmarsh and revived riparian zones.

This transformative initiative advances nine UN Sustainable Development Goals while delivering measurable outcomes including enhanced marine biodiversity and ecosystem services like water quality through natural filtration. The project creates accessible boardwalks, interpretive trails, and water-based infrastructure that strengthen community connections to Country while providing employment opportunities and skills development for local contractors and First Nations work crews.

WILS exemplifies how nature-based solutions deliver superior coastal protection, ecological restoration, and community wellbeing, establishing new benchmarks for sustainable coastal management and placemaking across Australia.

Finalists:

Electrify 2515 Community Pilot
Rewiring Australia Research and Advocacy
In collaboration with: – Rewiring Australia, Electrify 2515, Brighte, Endeavour Energy
The Electrify 2515 Community Pilot is an innovative, community-led research project rapidly switching an entire neighbourhood from gas to electric, providing critical insights to guide Australia’s transition to a smart, electric future.

Sydney Metro Martin Place Integrated Station Development (SMMPISD)
Macquarie Group
In collaboration with: – Sydney Metro, Lendlease, Arup, Grimshaw Architects, JPW, Tzannes
Sydney Metro Martin Place Integrated Station Development (SMMPISD) delivers a sustainable, future focused transport and commercial infrastructure hub in the heart of Sydney’s CBD.

Winner:

Ferrero Australia
Ferrero Australia’s factory in Lithgow, NSW, sets a benchmark for sustainable regional manufacturing. Established in 1976, it produces over 15,000 tonnes of Nutella annually for Australia, New Zealand and East Asia, employing nearly 100 people.

Lithgow aims to be thermal-energy free by 2026, significantly reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions in line with the Group target of a 50% reduction by 2030 on 2018. Key innovations include a rooftop solar array generating up to 20% of electricity needs, a focus on energy efficiency, and an electric hazelnut roaster cutting gas use by nearly 90% while still reducing electricity consumption.

Sustainability is expressed locally through support for the Lithgow Emerging Economy Plan, school career support and contributions to Lithgow’s Seven Valleys Visitor Centre. Recognised with top energy efficiency ratings, ISO certifications, and Gold recognition in the NSW Sustainability Advantage Program, the factory will undertake continuing investment in its vision to be largely self-sufficient in energy and water use.

Winner:

Pablo & Rusty’s Coffee Roasters
Pablo & Rusty’s Coffee Roasters is a trailblazing Australian SME that has woven sustainability into the very fabric of its operations. Going far beyond great coffee, this Sydney-based B Corp has achieved a rare “triple accreditation” as a certified Carbon Neutral Organisation, a committed 1% for the Planet member, and a high scoring B Corp in the country. This leadership is demonstrated through tangible actions: pioneering one of Australia’s first home-compostable coffee pods, investing in renewable energy, and making a significant financial commitment to the planet’s health. Through 1% for the Planet, the company donates one percent of its total revenue to environmental partners, contributing over $125,000 in the last year alone. Pablo & Rusty’s provides a powerful, evidence-backed blueprint for how a small-to-medium enterprise can lead with purpose and drive meaningful change.

Finalists:

Cargo Road Wines
In collaboration with: – James Sweetapple
Cargo Road Wines, 37ha of Land in Orange NSW, Dedicated to a Regenerative and Sustainable land for the last 28 years.

Colormaker Industries
In collaboration with: – Dr Martin Poole – Executive Director, Epuron & Director of Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering at USYD, Rod Hislop – Principal, Energeering Pty Ltd, Adam Middleton – Vision Electrical Services, Fred Hopley – Engineer, Zero Emissions Sydney North, Tim Maguire – Go Solar Mackellar, Solar Alliance Brookvale, Relectrify Australia, Northern Beaches Council
While traditional paints and inks have relied on fossil fuel energy and harmful chemical formulations, Colormaker Industries is taking a bold, alternative path to redefining the standard for sustainable paint production.

Symbio Wildlife Park
Symbio Wildlife Park is leading the way in sustainable wildlife tourism by embedding conservation, community, and climate action into every aspect of its operations and visitor experience.

Winner:

Region X – Adventure projects
Region X
RegionX’s Clyde River Oyster Tasting Kayak Tour is a pioneering collaboration between eco-tourism and aquaculture. Guests paddle short, accessible routes on the pristine Clyde River before visiting The Oyster Shed, where fifth-generation farmer Jade shares the story of oyster cultivation, estuary ecology, and cultural heritage. Freshly opened oysters are tasted on the water, with shells returned to the river in a waste-free cycle.

In the past three years, more than 3,000 visitors have joined the tour, generating vital alternative income for farmers, strengthening Eurobodalla’s $16M oyster industry and 100 jobs, and raising awareness of oysters as ecological keystones filtering 5 litres of water per hour.

With 575+ five-star reviews, guests consistently highlight the impact: “I’ve lived here all my life and never knew this existed — tasting oysters on the water while learning how they keep the river alive was unforgettable.”

Finalists:

City of Sydney’s Sustainable Destination Partnership
City of Sydney
In collaboration with: – Accor Hotels, Amora Hotel Jamison Sydney, Art Gallery of NSW, Australian Museum, Australian National Maritime Museum, City of Sydney, Disney Studios Australia, EVT, The Grace Hotel, Hilton Sydney, Furama Darling Harbour, Hyatt Regency, InterContinental Hotel Sydney, International Convention Centre Sydney, Merlin Entertainments, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Museum of Contemporary Art, Park Royal Sydney, Pier One Sydney Harbour, Salter Brothers, Schwartz Family Company, Shangri-La Hotel, Sheraton Grand Hyde Park, State Library of NSW, Sydney Fish Market, Sydney Harbour Marriott, Museums of History, Sydney Opera House, TFE Hotels, The Langham, The Star Entertainment Group, YHA Australia, Kimpton Margot Sydney, Business Events Sydney, EarthCheck, Green Building Council of Australia, My Green Butler, NABERS, Oz Harvest, Accommodation Australia, Tourism & Transport Forum, Destination NSW, Good Environmental Choice Australia, Ecotourism Australia
City of Sydney’s Sustainable Destination Partnership brings together accommodation providers, cultural institutions, entertainment venues, and industry leaders to make Sydney one of the world’s most sustainable destinations.

Trolley’d
Joystick Pty Ltd
Trolley’d transforms the event experience with aviation-themed mobile bars that achieve zero waste, source 90% of ingredients locally and ethically, and inspire guests to celebrate sustainably.