The AOP is conscious of its responsibility to support the digital publishing sector’s drive to meet ESG targets and so during the planning and delivery of this year’s Awards and Awards Dinner, we are focused on minimising our carbon footprint and thinking consciously about creating positive social benefits. As a taster/example:

• We are working with suppliers who have clear ESG targets and are actively changing the way that they operate to meet these targets.  Our entry platform, Awardsforce, is hosted with Amazon Web Services who have a long-term commitment to 100% renewable energy.  Awardsforce offset the 50% of server energy still coming from non-renewable energy. 
• Our catering and event management company, CH&Co, is making strong progress in their commitment to be carbon neutral; introducing electric or hybrid vehicles, tracking and reducing the carbon impact of their menus.
• Our commitment remains to ensuring entries are reviewed by a truly diverse and inclusive panel of jurors.
• The judging process is paper-free.
• Our venue and delivery partner selection, as part of an existing “run of events”, drastically reduces the carbon impact of the event. Hosting the Awards dinner at Old Billingsgate enables us to reduce the carbon impact of the event with the staging, technical support, catering kitchen, furniture and dressing being used over several events and not delivered for one-off use.
• We are committed to reducing single-use on-site branding at the Awards Dinner. 
• Our signage and branding supplier create 50% of their power through solar panels and provide branding that is made from recycled materials, and can itself be recycled. 
• Our Award winners will receive trophies made of recycled and sustainable materials. 
• We continue to explore further ways of calculating and off-setting the carbon footprint of the Awards dinner – more details to follow.