The German Sustainability Award 2009

kicked off on April 29th with a festive dinner in Berlin. Guest of honour was HRH The Prince of Wales who has been presented with the Honorary Award 2008.

2009 was the second year of the German Sustainability Award that has been founded by the German TV-presenter Stefan Schulze-Hausmann. The Award has been established to explore the current status of sustainable development in Germany, encourage the acceptance of ecological and social responsibility and identify role models. Special attention is paid to environment and climate-related commitment but also to activities in the areas of Corporate Governance and Corporate Citizenship. Awards will be presented to companies that consistently and extensively implement the principles of sustainability throughout their business to a high standard. In addition, awards will be given to individuals promoting the idea of a sustainable society by putting to good use their popularity, time, effort or financial resources.

The prize-giving Ceremony took place in Duesseldorf on November 6th 2009. It was preceded by an afternoon symposium with presentation of the final Award rankings. High-profile key-note speakers including former Federal Minister of Foreign Affaires Joschka Fischer, IPCC-Chairman Ottmar Edenhofer and US-actress and activist Jane Fonda assessed the results´ societal and global context. The Award Ceremony was part of the subsequent gala night which offered an unconventional and emotional setting for stakeholders to discuss new sustainability approaches and projects. Among our guests were Federal Minister for Labour and Social Affaires Franz Josef Jung, Chief Executives and CSR-managers of top German companies and of international companies located in Germany. Representatives of politics, the media, advertising and PR also attended the event as did many of those promoting the idea of sustainable development through their commitment in NGOs, foundations and trusts, and society. Video messages were sent by Federal Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schaeuble and former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

Patron of the German Sustainability Award Ceremony and symposium was Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel.

2009 Company Award Winners
Germany´s Most Sustainable Companies: Bau-Fritz, Alnatura, memo
Germany´s Most Sustainable Brands: Frosch (Werner & Mertz), alverde (dm), Neumarkter Lammsbräu
Germany´s Most Sustainable Strategies: Deutsche Post DHL, GE, REWE
Most Sustainable Products & Services: TransFair, Bank Sarasin, HACH LANGE
Most Sustainable Research & Developments: P&G, SAP, Vaillant
Most Sustainable Purchases: HiPP, GEPA, TÜV Rheinland
Most Sustainable Productions: Viessmann, Märkisches Landbrot, P&G
Most Sustainable Recyclings: InterfaceFLOR, memo, Xerox
Most Sustainable Financial Services: Bank Sarasin, GLS Bank, oekom research
Special Award for Germany´s recycling friendliest companies: memo, oekom research, Studiosus Reisen

2009 Special Awards
Honorary Awards: Joschka Fischer and Wolfgang Schaeuble
Special Achievement: Jane Fonda, Yusuf Islam, DFB (German Football Association)
Social Entrepreneur of Sustainability 2009: Christian Hiß

Among our project partners were numerous leading institutions and organisations that each promote the idea of sustainability, such as the German Council for Sustainable Development, the Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affaires, B.A.U.M. e.V., Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and NABU e.V.

A.T. Kearney, Marketing Centrum University of Muenster and Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy were assessment partner. The jury was made up of 13 internationally renowned personalities with expertise in the area of sustainable development.

Among them are:
- Bernd M. Michael (President of the German Marketing Asscociation)
- Prof Dr Maximilian Gege (Chairman of B.A.U.M. e.V.)
- Prof Dr Claudia Kemfert (Professor at the German Institute for Economic Research)
- Prof Dr Dr hc mult Heribert Meffert (former Chairman of the Executive Board of Germany´s most important think tank; Professor of Marketing)
- Dr Christa Liedtke (head of the Research Group ´Sustainable Production and Consumption´ at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy)
- Jens Plachetka (General Manager and Country Head of H.J. Heinz Germany/Austria/Switzerland)
- Kristina Steenbock (Deputy Chairwoman of Germanwatch e.V.)
- Prof Dr Klaus Toepfer (former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme)
- Olaf Tschimpke (President of NABU e.V.)
- Prof Dr Alexander Bassen (Chair for Finance and Investments at the University of Hamburg)
- Dietrich Neumann (Managing Director for Central Europe at A.T. Kearny GmbH)
- Dr Dr Axel Zweck (Head of Department at the VDI Technology Center)

The German Sustainability Award is a carbon-free project.

It is organised by Coment, an agency with offices in Duesseldorf and Berlin. Coment specialises in communication and TV production services and has, for more than fifteen years, produced high-profile events for the media, corporations, NGOs and political bodies. Among the projects carried out by Coment are:
- the prestigious "German Environment Award" created by the German Federal Environmental Foundation and presented, each year, by the German Federal President (produced by Coment since 2000)
- the "German PR Award", Germany´s most significant award in the area of public relations, presented by the German Public Relations Association DPRG
- Europe´s biggest charity gala, the annual "Ball of Sports", hosted by the German Sports Aid Foundation
- the "Day of German Unity" and other events hosted by Germany´s Bundesrat (since 2005)
- more than 1,200 TV programmes for European satellite channel ZDF/3sat