Germany‘s most sustainable companies honored
As part of the 16th German Sustainability Award, the „Pioneers of Transformation“ in 100 sectors were honored for the first time in cooperation with the Federal Ministry for the Environment, the DIHK and the WWF. The CEOs and sustainability managers of the 100 companies received their trophies in Düsseldorf; in addition, the four cross-industry winners who had made particularly exemplary achievements in the transformation fields of resources, society/value chain, nature and climate were honored separately. CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour, Prof. Klaus Töpfer, Irish singer Ronan Keating and Grammy Award winner Macy Gray were honored with special awards in front of 1200 guests and 100 media representatives.
Award globe German Sustainability Award
© Frank Fendler
„There are successful solutions to the challenges of transformation in all sectors,“ says Stefan Schulze-Hausmann, Chairman of the Board of the German Sustainability Award Foundation. „The DNP aims to help spread these solutions and thus accelerate the necessary change.“
Advanced methodology
The award ceremony in Düsseldorf was preceded by a process lasting several months. A total of around 5000 companies were researched in all sectors with the help of AI. At the same time, there was an application option; the researched companies were also able to update their sustainability profiles. The Berlin start-up score4more evaluated these profiles and compiled shortlists, on the basis of which 100 expert juries with a total of around 150 experts selected the finalists and winners. Awards were presented to the 100 companies that the juries felt had made particularly effective, successful and exemplary contributions to transformation in their sectors and had become role models – or should become role models. Among them are such well-known companies as Interzero Holding GmbH & Co. KG, the Swiss Steel Group, Festo SE Co KG, Flender International GmbH, Siemens AG and Beckhoff Automation GmbH & Co. KG - to name but a few. Experts from PwC Germany and Evi Hartmann from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg pre-selected the transformation field winners for the jury vote.
Night of the winners
On Thursday evening at the MARITIM Hotel Düsseldorf, everything revolved around the „big picture“ of transformation in Germany. At the 16th German Corporate Sustainability Award ceremony, 1200 CEOs and sustainability managers from the winning and finalist companies, representatives of the juries and guests from all relevant sectors came together to honor the pioneers. Representatives of institutions that play a significant role in transformative progress in the economy were invited to the award ceremony, including Bundesbank board member Dr. Sabine Mauderer, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Environment Ministry Dr. Bettina Hoffmann, WWF board member Heike Vesper, DIHK President Peter Adrian and the President of the Deutscher Naturschutzring Prof. Dr. Kai Niebert.
Honorary awards for personal commitment
Every year, the DNP awards special and honorary prizes to prominent personalities who are committed to greater sustainability in their own way. This year‘s winners included CNN Anchor Christiane Amanpour, who was honored for committed journalism as a prerequisite for a sustainable society, the Irish singer Ronan Keating, who is committed to cancer prevention with his foundation, and the US musician Macy Gray, who supports the „Black Lives Matter“ movement with her own foundation. Former German Federal Minister and head of the UN Environment Program Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer received a special award for his life‘s work, a golden version of the DNP prize globe. Pop star Zoe Wees and Roachford (Mike and the Mechanics) provided the entertainment. The vegetarian dinner was provided by star chef Nelson Müller.
Pioneer of sustainable event production
The event, which is being held in Düsseldorf for the 16th time, has seen itself as a pioneer in its own right from the very beginning. The congress and award ceremonies, as well as the entire year-round production phase at the DNP office, are climate-neutral. All organizational steps are reviewed and optimized with regard to environmental compatibility, energy and resource efficiency, sensible logistics and social standards. On Friday, star chef Nelson Müller provided the vegetarian dinner and numerous partners ensured exemplary sustainable event production.
