Steinmeier at the environmental award ceremony: "The fever curve of our planet is clearly pointing upwards"

On the occasion of the awarding of the German Environmental Prize, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for climate protection to be given high priority despite all the “current political circumstances”.

In view of concerns about stability and security, many people's thoughts about environmental and climate protection have probably taken a back seat at the moment, he said at the ceremony in Achen. "At the same time, even if it sounds paradoxical, we all literally feel the seriousness of the situation, including us Europeans. The fever curve of our planet is clearly pointing upwards." Climate change is hitting Europe particularly hard - "our continent is warming up more than twice as fast as any other."

Steinmeier referred to the hot summer with temperature records, forest fires and dry rivers. Last summer showed what dramatic consequences global warming has for everyone: burning forests, hardly any shipping due to low water levels and 16,000 additional deaths, according to the Robert Koch Institute. “We know that we have to question the way we live and do business,” said the Federal President. "Why? To leave our children and grandchildren a planet worth living in."

The German Environmental Prize honors the achievements of people who make an exemplary contribution to protecting and preserving the environment. At 500,000 euros, it is one of the most highly endowed environmental awards in Europe. This year the prize goes equally to the engineer Klaus Vossenkaul from the Aachen city region and the Hamburg lawyer Roda Verheyen.

Vossenkaul is being honored for his innovative developments in membrane filter technology for wastewater treatment in sewage treatment plants. Verheyen receives the prize for enforcing legal requirements for more environmental and climate justice.

Steinmeier praised the two award winners as role models in environmental protection. "They show that each and every individual can make a difference." As a lawyer, Verheyen has shown many people ways to fight for their interests in man-made climate change. It gave private individuals and citizens' initiatives as well as civil society organizations a voice in disputes with corporations and governments. In 2021, with her constitutional complaint against the Climate Protection Act, she played a decisive role in "the Federal Constitutional Court issuing its dictum on climate neutrality by 2045".

As a technology pioneer, Vossenkaul stands for “creativity and inventiveness” in environmental protection, said Steinmeier. The membrane technology he has further developed helps to convert sewage treatment plants to save space, energy and therefore costs. Where the technology is used, it also protects valuable groundwater. With his work, the engineer protects “our livelihoods” and also makes a “contribution to the financial consolidation of our country”.

The two winners are “encouragers who show how things can move forward positively,” emphasized the Secretary General of the German Federal Environmental Foundation, Alexander Bonde. "Roda Verheyen and Klaus Vossenkaul embody attitude, persistence and innovative strength with a clear compass when it comes to environmental and climate protection - also as location factors for companies in Germany."

Verheyen said she was very happy about the award, but at the same time she was “extremely sad.” The climate lawyer pointed out that, according to the United Nations, the earth is heading for 2.8 degrees of warming compared to pre-industrial times by the end of the century. “2.8 degrees – that means millions of deaths,” Verheyen told the dpa news agency. "We are putting ourselves in immense danger of wiping out ourselves - not the planet, but humanity."

The major tipping points in the Arctic, Antarctic and Amazon could fall with such strong global warming. "I have to share with you this anger and this sadness." What makes her angry is that people are putting themselves in this immense danger with their eyes open. "And why? Because we have been letting the fossil fuel industry lead us through the ring for at least 30 years. And at the moment we are acting as if we can just carry on."