Mainz (dpa) – Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has emphasised the power of democratic processes in tackling the climate crisis. “This approach will always remain superior to populism and the lack of restraint in an autocracy”, said Steinmeier as he presented the German Environmental Prize. The award has a total prize value of half a million euros and goes in equal parts to the head of the Greifswald Mire Centre, Franziska Tanneberger, and to the CEO of ADS-TEC Energy in Nürtingen near Stuttgart, Thomas Speidel.
This electrical engineer spent a long time working with combustion engines, but is being commended for inventing a high-performance charging system for electric cars that enables a vehicle to be charged in around ten minutes. Tanneberger’s research is felt to have demonstrated the great significance of intact peatlands to a healthy climate and to biodiversity, said Steinmeier. Many people would never have imagined “the beneficial importance that the eerie moorlands from our childhood nightmares can have in terms of our climate and environment”.
The award is presented each year by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) and is one of the best endowed environmental prizes in Europe. It commends services relating to protection and preservation of the environment.
Discussion about this post