A green company from Guangdong province became the first Chinese company to sign on as a strategic partner of the United Nations Environment Programme on Monday.

Part of the cooperation includes funding Champions of Earth — the UN's flagship environmental award given to those whose actions and leadership have had a positive impact on the environment.

The company, Guangdong Wealth Environmental Protection Co Ltd, has committed to back the awards financially for three years, taking over from previous partner LG Electronics.

UNEP chooses its strategic partner globally every three years, following a strict selection process that lasts about half a year.

"We are delighted to welcome Guangdong Wealth as the strategic corporate partner of Champions of Earth — an award that each year provides inspiration for world leaders to take the bold decisions needed to put the world on the pathway to a resource-efficient, low-carbon future," said Nick Nuttall, UNEP's director of communications and spokesperson.

He said Chinese institutions and companies are showing ever-growing environmental awareness as a large number of companies are entering clean energy area, which was not seen some 10 years ago.

"We hope this decision made by one of China's major companies will further boost public, corporate and government understanding of the need to live sustainable lives," Nuttall said.

Champions of Earth is the UN's highest-level environmental award. Launched in 2005, it has to date recognized 51 individuals and organizations for their leadership, vision, inspiration and action on the environment.

The list of previous Champion laureates includes former Mexican president Felipe Calderon, Chinese actress and environmental advocate Zhou Xun and Mongolia's President Tsakhia Elbegdorj.

The 2013 award winners will be announced at the American Museum of Natural History in New York in November.