The University of Bath’s annual Sustainability Awards recognise staff and students at the University who have shown remarkable dedication to sustainability and climate action.

Amy Thompson – formerly Head of Policy Programmes and Communications at the Institute for Policy Research and now Director of Operations at the Centre for 21st Century Public Health – received the Empowering Changemakers award for her work on the ActNowFilm project.

Through ActNowFilm, Amy has worked to equip young people with climate leadership skills while raising Bath’s global reputation in climate and sustainability work. Over the past year, she led 11 international youth climate leadership events, engaging hundreds of young people worldwide.

Amy co-directed and delivered the fourth ActNowFilm in 2024, presenting it at six COP29 events in Azerbaijan. She delivered a workshop for young people at the SB62 climate conference in Bonn and hosted four UNFCCC Youth4Capacity workshops in partnership with Cambridge Zero and the Institute for Policy Research.

On receiving the award, Amy said:

"I'm honoured to receive the Empowering Changemakers award and grateful to be recognised alongside such powerful voices. This is a celebration of the youth climate leaders I’ve had the joy to work with – their energy, vision and commitment to a fairer, more sustainable world inspire me every day.

"Youth climate leaders aren’t just future leaders – they’re already driving change. Through ActNowFilm and global capacity-building events, I’ve seen how powerful they are when given the training, tools and trust to lead. I believe in a future shaped by their leadership – one where climate justice, inclusion and sustainability are at the heart of everything we do."