As just announced, one of this year’s three Sustainability Awards, supported by the Nobel Sustainability Trust in cooperation with the Technical University of Munich (TUM), will be awarded to Global Footprint Network co-founder Dr. Mathis Wackernagel on November 20, recognizing his leadership in implementing sustainability measures. As co-originator of the Ecological Footprint concept, and co-founder of Global Footprint Network with its widely known annual Earth Overshoot Day campaign, this award honors his contribution to measuring and responding to global ecological overshoot.
The other two awards go to Prof. Klaus Butterbach-Bahl and Prof. Jiuhui Qu for their outstanding contributions in the fields of agriculture and water, respectively.
Prof. Klaus Butterbach-Bahl is a German biogeochemist and head of the Danish Pioneer Center for Landscape Research in Sustainable Agricultural Future Trends at Aarhus University. He also conducts research at the Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. His research focuses on quantifying the environmental impacts of agriculture, particularly in relation to greenhouse gases.
Prof. Jiuhui Qu is the former Director of the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a Distinguished Professor at Tsinghua University, China’s leading university. He has developed a comprehensive technical system “from source to tap,” ensuring safe drinking water in both urban and rural areas while addressing water risks. This initiative has positively impacted more than 200 million people in China and around the world.
This is the second year that the Nobel Sustainability Trust is bestowing Sustainability Awards. Last year’s Awards went to Prof. Elena Bou, Prof. Nicholas Stern, and John Kerry.
The founders of the Nobel Sustainability Trust, created by members of the Nobel family, having observed the devastation of the world’s vital, natural and non-renewable resources with great concern, created this award to encourage people to take a stand for our future as a species on a life-sustaining planet.
The awardees will be presented at the 4th Summit of the Nobel Sustainability Trust from November 20 to 21, 2024, at the University of California in Berkeley, close to San Francisco, CA. Eligible for the award are individuals from science and industry, as well as organizations and companies that promote the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
Peter Nobel, Chairman of the Nobel Sustainability Trust, said: “Solving natural resource scarcity, such as water, or adopting sustainable agricultural practices, involve not only scientific breakthroughs but also requires technological innovation, political efforts, and incentives from non-profit organizations. This is what we want to push forward through the Sustainability Awards. The NST is therefore proud of this year’s selection of the three distinguished researchers who all – on an international scale – have addressed the current and future environmental challenges linked to the climate crisis.”
Prof. Michael Molls, Director of the TUM Institute for Advanced Study (TUM-IAS), emphasized: “It takes interdisciplinary research and staying power to achieve sustainability. TUM focuses on interdisciplinary research and sustainability. Together with the NST, we can recognize outstanding results and implementations in science-led sustainability. The outstanding contributions of our three awardees in deepening research and development on sustainability topics and in sharing knowledge beyond their community reflect our mission.”
About the Awards
The Sustainability Awards recognizes distinguished individuals, organizations, or companies in different fields for their contribution to fostering, innovating, and implementing sustainable solutions for the well-being of our society, economy, and planet at present and in the future.
The TUM Institute for Advanced Study (TUM-IAS) oversees the two-stage competitive selection process. The selection committee consists of internationally renowned experts from academia and industry. The final award committee is composed of professors from TUM.
Further information and links
(photo credit of Mathis Wackernagel’s picture: Nicholas Albrecht; of Klaus Butterbach-Bahl: Klaus Butterbach-Bahl; of Jihui Qu: CMG – China Media Group)