The seventh meeting of the international Advisory Group on Environmental Emergencies (AGEE), held in Rosersberg, Sweden, in June 2007, recommended the establishment of a special recognition scheme and requested that the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Green Cross International (GCI) develop a suitable award or honor. The concept of the Green Star Awards was endorsed by participants in a follow-up meeting held in Tunis, Tunisia, in December 2007.

The Award is designed to be a peer recognition forum intended to:

• Increase awareness of environmental emergencies by drawing attention to efforts made to prevent, prepare for and respond to such disasters;
• Raise the profile of environmental emergencies and disasters;
• Underline the connection between environmental impacts of natural disasters, technological accidents and complex emergencies, and their consequences for affected populations and providers of humanitarian assistance, and
• Increase international participation in preventing, preparing for and responding to environmental emergencies.

The Green Star Awards will be presented biennially on the occasion of the AGEE. The first Awards ceremony will take place at the conclusion of the 8th meeting of the AGEE, 6-8 May 2009 in Brussels, Belgium.