First Climate is climate protection partner of the 15th German Sustainability Award
For the 15th time, the German Sustainability Award (DNP) once again honored companies, organizations and highly involved individuals who tirelessly work towards the sustainable transformation of the industry and society in early December in Düsseldorf. First Climate was on site again this year as a compensation partner of the event.
The two-day congress and the accompanying Sustainability Award ceremony took place this year under the patronage of Bundestag President Bärbel Bas. Around 130 speakers representing business, politics, research and non-governmental organizations exchanged views with congress participants in panel discussions on key topics such as climate action, energy security, the circular economy and sustainable construction. This year, the prestigious award was again presented in various categories, including business, research, design, packaging, start-ups and architecture. Since 2020, the awards have used five "transformation fields" within the categories that are essential for sustainable transformation: Climate, Biodiversity, Resources, Society and Supply Chains.
As customary, the honorary award also honored individuals who have championed social and environmental causes. The honorary award recipients include singer Michael Patrick Kelly, who was recognized for his social commitment in conjunction with his #PeaceBell project, which counteracts social divisions and currently supports people in Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees now living in Germany. The honorary prize was also awarded to Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart, the founder of the cradle-to-cradle approach, who has made a valuable contribution to the implementation of a circular economy.
Leading by example regarding sustainability and climate engagement
Every single event releases some amount of carbon emissions. As the largest European award for ecological and social commitment, the DNP, which is awarded annually by the German Sustainability Award Foundation, has therefore been taking the lead in terms of sustainability and climate engagement since 2008. In line with the slogan "Rethink, Reduce, Reuse," the DNP takes various measures to make the event as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible. For example, aspects such as climate impact, energy and resource efficiency, smart logistics and social standards were particularly taken into account when organizing the event.
In addition to these measures, the topic of carbon compensation remained an integral part of the DNP's climate protection commitment. As in the previous year, the DNP worked with First Climate against this backdrop to compensate for the event's remaining carbon footprint by supporting a certified climate protection project from the First Climate portfolio.
First Climate’s team of experts Alina Juncker, Laura Ann Lüdtke, Erik Bergmann and Michael Sachs (from left) were present to advise visitors at the company booth.
The Uganda Cookstoves project promotes the distribution of energy-efficient cookstoves in Uganda. Specifically, First Climate managed the calculation and offsetting of Scope 3 emissions, i.e., unavoidable emissions originating from the DNP supply chain, as well as travel emissions on the participants’ side. Both suppliers and participants were able to report their travel-related carbon footprint in advance of the event digitally with a link provided. Visitors to the DNP were also able to determine their emissions directly and easily at the First Climate booth. First Climate offsets the emissions generated for the DNP via the carbon management platform my.FirstClimate.
For more information on the DNP's climate protection and sustainability activities, please visit https://www.nachhaltigkeitspreis.de/dnp/sustainable-event/.
A complete list of the award recipients can be found here.
