German Sustainability Award: "The pioneers of transformation"

"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." For the first time, people, companies, media and clubs that are exemplary in promoting sustainable change in sport were also honored in the field of sport.

Advanced methodology.

The award ceremony in Düsseldorf was preceded by a process lasting several months. A total of around 5,000 companies in all sectors were researched 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. The award went 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. Experts from PwC Germany and Evi Hartmann from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg pre-selected the transformation field winners for the jury vote.

Here you can find the 100 most sustainable companies.

Click here to see the finalists and winners of the special "Role models of transformation" award.

Night of the winners.

On Thursday evening in Düsseldorf, everything revolved around the "big picture" of transformation in Germany. At the 16th German Corporate Sustainability Award ceremony, 1,200 CEOs and sustainability officers 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 Ministry for the Environment Dr. Bettina Hoffmann, WWF board member Heike Vesper, DIHK President Peter Adrian and the President of the German Nature Conservation Ring Prof. Dr. Kai Niebert.

Honorary awards for personal commitment.

Every year, the DNP presents special and honorary awards 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.

The German Sustainability Award is the national award for excellence in sustainability in business, municipalities and research. With eight competitions (including the Next Economy Award for "green founders"), over 1,200 applicants and 2,000 guests at the events, the award is the largest of its kind in Europe. The award is presented by the Stiftung Deutscher Nachhaltigkeitspreis e.V. (German Sustainability Award Foundation) in cooperation with the German government, municipal umbrella organizations, business associations, civil society organizations and research institutions. The award ceremony is held at the German Sustainability Day in Düsseldorf, the most visited annual communication platform on the subject of sustainable development.

Further information can be found at www.nachhaltigkeitspreis.de.