Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) awards 30th German Environmental Award
At 500,000 euros, the German Environmental Award is one of the most highly endowed environmental awards in Europe; this year, the German Federal Foundation for the Environment is also awarding an honorary prize of 20,000 euros. With the award of the German Environmental Prize, the German Federal Foundation for the Environment honors efforts and achievements that have contributed decisively and in an exemplary manner to the protection and preservation of our environment and will contribute to a significant reduction in environmental pollution in the future. On Sunday, November 30, 2022, the award ceremony took place in Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt. Here, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier personally presented the DBU Environment and Honorary Award to outstanding achievements for shipbuilding, wilderness and agriculture. The German Environmental Award is shared by engineers Friedrich Mewis and Dirk Lehmann with biologist Dr. Christof Schenck. The Honorary Award goes to Myriam Rapior as a representative of the young environmental movement and Kathrin Muus as a young activist from agriculture.
With their Becker Mewis Duct (BMD), Friedrich Mewis and Dirk Lehmann put shipping on a climate course: Since its market launch in 2008, this hydrodynamic nozzle mounted between the ship and the propeller has so far saved not only millions of tons of heavy fuel oil in around 1,400 ships worldwide, but also around twelve million tons of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is harmful to the climate. A positive side effect: quieter ships and thus less noise pollution for marine animals such as whales. Biologist Dr. Christof Schenck receives the award for his work in protecting wilderness from human interference and in preserving severely threatened biodiversity. Schenck is committed to protecting large wilderness refuges, and he also created the international natural heritage fund Legacy Landcapes Fund as a way to preserve the world's natural heritage. The DBU Honorary Award for Myriam Rapior and Kathrin Muus is recognition for their remarkable mediating role in the Commission on the Future of Agriculture (ZKL). Together with the ZKL, they developed the vision of an ecological, socially sustainable and at the same time economically viable agricultural economy and were able to present recommendations for ways towards a more sustainable agriculture in the ZKL Final Report 2021.
More information about the DBU and a presentation of the award winners can be found at here.