A holistic approach, many years of outstanding commitment and exemplary initiatives for environmental protection and sustainable development – these are the criteria of the B.A.U.M. Environmental and Sustainability Award, which has been awarded since 1993 and is one of the most recognised sustainability prizes in Germany. The award is not awarded to organisations, but instead to individuals who have demonstrated commitment to B.A.U-M.’s values. “It is important to us above all to recognise the work of those who promote sustainability in business and society,” explained B.A.U.M. board member Martin Oldeland.
Among the winners of this year’s Sustainability Prize were Valentina Daiber from Telefónica Deutschland Holding AG and the entrepreneurs Christian Faggin (Alpensped GmbH Internationale Logistik), Lothar Hartmann (memo AG), Alexander Hofmann (Wiegel Group), Patricia Siebel (edding AG). In the “Science” category, the prize went to Prof. Dr. Maja Göpel from the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) and Prof. Dr. Franz-Theo Gottwald from the Schweisfurth Foundation.
We were very proud to see RESET founder Uta Mühleis awarded with the Sustainability Prize in the category “Digitalisation”, which she received in particular for her work with the sustainability platform RESET.org. “I am proud to be the winner of the B.A.U.M. Environmental and Sustainability Award in the category “Digitalisation”. For a long time now, sustainability and digitalisation – and all of the opportunities and risks that are associated with them – have been the focus of my work. I am really pleased to see that B.A.U.M. e.V. recognizes the importance of these two areas, both with this category and by awarding the Science Prize to Maja Göpel,” said Uta Mühleis.
Due to the coronavirus restrictions in place, this year’s award ceremony was broadcast via livestream from Hamburg’s Hafencity. In her video message for the award ceremony, German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze emphasised the importance of role models and paid tribute to the dedication of the prize winners: “To achieve climate neutrality we need dedicated companies and individuals who are committed to climate and resource protection, who demonstrate that it works in practice and that business and society benefit from it.”
Uta Mühleis also emphasised the importance of positive examples of sustainable digitalisation: “If we are going to use digital tools to make the world more sustainable and also ensure that the digital revolution is both climate-friendly and fair, then we need to provide access to comprehensive and constructive research, and inform people about possible digital solutions. We also need to actively support new, green startups that are a breath of fresh air in our current economic system. This award motivates me to continue working with RESET on doing just that.”
Find the full list of prize winners here: B.A.U.M. | Environment and Sustainability Award 2020.
