My friends at the Environmental Academy have just launched their new “Enviro Excellence” award to provide businesses with a framework for improving their environmental management.

Participants must provide evidence that they have complied with a set of compulsory and optional criteria to progress through the Bronze, Silver and Gold awards – a bit like the Duke of Edinburgh award if you did that at school. A Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) version is in the pipeline.

I write this with a small amount of pride as Terra Infirma Ltd acted as a ‘critical friend’ in the development of the award to look at it from an outsider’s point of view and help fine tune the criteria.