The Sustainability Leadership A-List – in its sixth year running – recognises and celebrates the most outstanding professionals in Asia Pacific – people who are pushing for change within their organisations and across policy, business and civil society.
Know someone creating impact that can be demonstrated through changes in policies or business practices? We welcome you to fill in the form and kickstart the nomination process.
We are accepting nominations for the A-List and the A-List Youth (individuals aged 30 and below) awards. Nominations will close on 14 March 2025.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is the Sustainability Leadership A-List award?
The Eco-Business Sustainability Leadership A-List award recognises Asia Pacific’s outstanding sustainability leaders and the impact they generate through their work, with a particular focus on their contributions to changes in policies and business practices.
The award is in its sixth year and is unique in that it recognises individuals, rather than organisations and companies. They can be individuals working in government, business or civil society.
What are the award categories?
There are two award categories: the A-List and the Youth A-List.
The Youth category was introduced in 2020 to specially commend and recognise the region’s most impactful sustainable practitioners and leaders aged 30 and below.
In previous iterations of the awards, up to 10 winners for each category were selected.
When is the deadline for nominations?
The deadline is 14 March 2025, 11.59pm (UTC+08:00).
What's new for the awards?
The awards previously focused on recognising individuals for their contributions and work in the past 12 months. This criteria has been broadened as we put more emphasis on demonstrable changes in policies and business practices that the individual has brought about, recognising that delivering impact takes time.
At the same time, we are also strengthening our judging metrics, taking in feedback from past judges. The Youth A-List now includes the Business and Civil Society sub-categories to allow for clearer judging metrics.
Who can I nominate?
You can nominate individuals who work in government, business and/or civil society who have made an impact on sustainable development, with reference to the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs).
These individuals should be based in the Asia Pacific, which includes countries and/or territories in Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia, as well as Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Past winners include government representatives and city mayors, chief sustainability officers and start-up founders who have driven change by displaying exceptional leadership, as well as non-profit representatives and community leaders standing up and advocating for causes such as human rights, nature and biodiversity protection, inclusion and gender equality. You can read about the winners here.
What do I need to prepare before submitting a nomination?
You will need to provide accurate information on the nominee, including the nominee’s full name, organisation and job title. It is required to submit at least the nominee’s email and phone contact. This will help us verify the authenticity of the nomination.
If you are nominating an individual for the Youth A-List, do confirm that the individual is aged 30 and below.
You will need to provide a reason for nominating the individual, including listing at least two key projects the nominee worked on, as well as elaborate on and provide proof for the impact they have brought about. Documents such as media articles, videos and press releases, proof of awards as well as reports that the individual might have worked on can be uploaded to support the nomination. Past experience with judging has shown that detailed information with supporting documents can help advance a nomination.
To nominate an individual, you will also need to provide your own contact details, including your email address and phone number. You will have to declare any affiliation you have with the nominee. You might be contacted to provide more information on your A-List nomination. The contact details will only be used for this purpose. We do not accept anonymous nominations.
Do I have to pay a fee to submit a nomination?
Nomination is free. You do not have to pay a fee to submit a nomination.
Can I submit multiple nominations?
You can submit multiple nominations for different individuals. There is no limit to the number of nominations you can submit.
Additional nominations for the same individual need not be submitted, as the number of nominations an individual receives has no substantial impact on the judging outcome.
Can I nominate someone from my own organisation? Do I need to know the nominee personally?
Yes, you can nominate someone from your own organisation or from an organisation that you are affiliated to. You will be required to disclose your relationship with the nominee when submitting the nomination form.
In the case the individual that you have nominated is being considered by the judging panel, it will be made known to the judges that the nominee has been nominated by his/her own organisation.
You do not need to know the nominee personally, but as highlighted, you will need to minimally provide an accurate email contact of the individual you are nominating.
Can I nominate myself?
We do not allow self-nomination. All self-nominations will be disqualified.
Do I need to be based in Asia Pacific to submit a nomination?
No, you do not have to be based in Asia Pacific. However, the individual you are nominating needs to be based in Asia Pacific.
How do I know if I have successfully submitted my nomination?
A confirmation and thank you note will be displayed on screen and sent to your email address if you have successfully submitted the nomination. If you have enquiries on A-List nominations, contact us at news@eco-business.com.
Who selects the winners of the Sustainability Leadership A-List?
Two expert panels of judges are formed to assess the nominations and select the winners for the A-List and the Youth A-List. They can include industry experts, experienced sustainability leaders, academics as well as past A-List winners. They might also include individuals representing our sponsor organisations, and this will be made known publicly.
We will be revealing who our judges are for Sustainability Leadership A-List 2025 in the next few weeks.
Judges for last year’s Sustainability Leadership A-List include:
▪️ Ramnath Iyer, Lead, Sustainable Finance Asia, IEEFA
▪️ Su-Yen Wong, Board Director, Singapore Institute of Directors (SID)
▪️ S Viswanathan, Professor of Operations and Corporate Sustainability, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
▪️ Tom Brzostowski, Singapore Country Director, The Nature Conservancy
▪️ Esther An, Chief Sustainability Officer, City Developments Limited (CDL)
▪️ Lahiru Wijedasa, Asia Forest Coordinator, Birdlife International
▪️ Madhumitha Ardhanari, Sustainability Strategist, Forum for the Future
▪️ Tanah Sullivan, Group Head of Sustainability, GoTo
The Eco-Business editorial team is involved in checking the nomination forms, winner shortlisting as well as facilitating the final scoring and selection sessions with the judges.
How are winners of the Sustainability Leadership A-List selected?
Once nominations close, a standardised set of scoring sheets and reference documents for judging criteria will be provided to the selected judges, along with a shortlist of about 20 names vetted by the Eco-Business editorial team for accuracy and quality of submission.
What the judges consider while scoring include how effective the nominee’s contributions have been in driving changes in business practices or policies to improve the environmental and social impact of his/her company if he/she is a business representative, and if his/her work focuses on a neglected area or cause and its effectiveness if he/she represents civil society.
The judges are given about one to two weeks on average to send in their scores, where they will be able to request for more materials if needed. Judging sessions, facilitated by the Eco-Business editorial team, are also convened to review and finalise the winners list, as well as provide additional comments on their reason(s) for selection.
Can I only include work done by the nominee from the past year?
While this was a key requirement in past editions, this year, we have decided to remove the "past 12 months" restriction as we understand that new projects don't necessarily bear fruit within a year. This year, we welcome references to efforts that were initiated over a year ago.
However, we have also included an additional criteria to include at least two key projects the nominee has worked on, as well as for clear evidence to demonstrate measurable, real-world impact in the form of changes in policies and/or business practices.
When will winners be notified?
For Sustainability Leadership A-List 2025, winners will be notified via email or phone by early April 2025. They will be invited to attend the awards ceremony to be held on 22 April 2025, where the Sustainability Leadership A-List will be unveiled.
Winners may also be contacted for interviews and detailed profile write-ups on their achievements may be published.
Only winners will be notified. Winners are not ranked and details on scoring will not be provided.
Will I be notified if the individual I have nominated is a winner?
Yes, you will be notified via the email or phone contact that you have provided. You will only receive a notification if the individual you have nominated has won.
Video and photo coverage of the A-List award ceremony
During the awards ceremony, Eco-Business may shoot video footage and take photographs of the Sustainability Leadership A-List 2025 winners.
In accepting the award, the Sustainability Leadership A-List winners consent to such footage and photographs being used by Eco-Business for marketing and publicity purposes.
